41^ 



LIBRARY OF rONftRESS.? 



f UNITED STATiiiS OP AMERICA. f 



This valuable Library, contaiiiiiig 980 volumes, was 
presented to tlie Washington Ltbeary, of which Or. 
Laurie was one of the founders, by his step son, Dr. 
James C. Hall, March 3, 1858. 



i 

I 



SERMONS 



DELIVERED BEFOHp 

THE FIRST SOCIETY 

OP 

UNITARIAN CHRISTIANS, 

IN THE 

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA J 

WHEHEIX 

THE PRINCIPAL POINTS, 

OSr WHICH THAT DEXOmXATIOX OP BELIEYERS DIPFEB PHOM THE 
MAJORITY OP THEIR BRETHREN, 

ARE OCCASIONAXLT ELUCIDATED, 



BY RALPH EDDOWES, 

A MINISTER PRO TEM. OF THE SAID SOCIETY* 



PHILADELPHIA: 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ABRAHAM SMAXL| 
JVo. 112, Chesniit Street, 
1817. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Serm. I. Fouildation of supreme Love to God - 13 

IL God is Li^ht - - - 29 

III. Divine Providence acknowledged - 43 

(^Delivered on the last day of the year.) 

IV. Prophecies of the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus of 

Nazareth . - - 65 

(On Christmas day.) 

V. Christ raised by the Power of God - - 87 

(On Easter Sunday.) 
VT. Ascension and Exaltation of Christ - 103 

VII. Effusion of the Spirit on the Apostles - 121 

VIII. Nature of Divine Influences explained - 1S7 

IX. Nature and Design of the Lord's Supper - 153 
(Before the first celebration in the JVeio Church.) 

X. Comfort under the Loss of Children - 167 

(On occasion of the death of a young person.) 
XL Blessings of Revelation intended for universal 

Diffusion - 183 

(For the benefit of the Bible Society of Philadelphia.) 

XII. Instructive Reflections on Flowers - 203 

(Sermon for Spring.) 

XIII. Mutual Duties of Ministers and People » 2ir 



Em AT A. 

In the quotation of the text to Sermon IV, dele "v." 
Page 113j line 11, dele "out." 

124, third line from the bottom, /or thes," reaf/ these." 

127, sixth line from the bottom, for a period put a comma. 



PREFACE. 



It was one of the least expected events of 
the Author's life, that he should ever have ap- 
peared before the Public as a teacher of Reli- 
gion, either from the pulpit or the press. His 
education had indeed been such as to have af- 
forded advantages for engaging in that profes- 
sion, if in his disposition there had appeared 
any prevailing bias towards it; but as none 
such discovered itself, family circumstances and 
connexions determined his early choice a totally 
diiferent way. Yet, through the divine blessing 
©n aflFectionate parental and serious pastoral in- 
structions, the years of childhood and youth did 
not pass without leaving impressions on his 
mind respecting Christianity, which have never 
lost their effect. Although they partook much 
of the nature of those which are distinguished 
by the title of orthodox^ they had nothing of 
that contractedness which opposes the entrance 
of light, or shuts the door against freedom of 
inquiry ; and of course, as reason advanced to- 
wards maturity, they gave way to sentiments 
of a more liberal cast — it is scarcely necessary 

A 2 



PREFACE. 



to add;, that lie was^ not more through educa- 
tioti than principle, a dissenter from the eccle- 
siastical establishment of his native country, 
and of that description of dissenters who in 
point of doctrine have left it at the greatest dis- 
tance. His ancestry, both paternal and mater- 
nal, comprised a long succession of Old Whigs 
and Puritans ; terms, always characteristic of 
those to whom they are applied, as the deter- 
mined assertors of liberty, civil and religious. 
An hereditary zeal for both, has led, perhaps 
for want of an adequate proportion of talent or 
prudence, to many costly sacrifices. Disap- 
pointed in reality, though in point of form suc- 
cessful, in an attempt to restore the ancient free 
constitution of the city of which he was an in- 
habitant, by an appeal to the highest court of 
judicature in the kingdom — harassed in his bu- 
siness by the vexatious and oppressive restric 
tions of excise laws — exposed, as a dissenter, 
to the odium which attached to almost every 
person of similar principles, about the period of 
the French revolution — and justly apprehensive 
of the consequences of that course which public 
affairs seemed to be taking — -he found it impos- 
sible to resist the attraction which the constitu- 
tin a of the United Slates (then recently gone 
into operation) held out to the lovers and de- 
voted adherents of liberty, for the sake of which 



PREFACE. 



vii 



he broke off many endearing connexions, re- 
linquished many temporal advantages, and en- 
countered many serious difficulties. To him, 
however, America did not immediately afford 
the means of enjoying the religious liberty she 
offered. Strongly attached, both by habit and 
principle, to a regular attendance on public 
worship, after trying the experiment v^ith a 
variety of religious persuasions, and more par- 
ticularly with that which came the nearest to 
former usage, the Presbyterian, he found, among 
some things that occasionally gave satisfaction^ 
so much that excited a contrary sensation, as 
to render a decided attachment to any of them 
impossible. Doctor Priestley, the author^s ear- 
ly preceptor and tutor, had arrived in America 
a few months before him ; but had fixed his 
abode at too great a distance from Philadelphia 
to admit of any hope of advantage from his mi- 
nistry. His occasional presence, however, and 
the plan he had recommended in his writings, 
excited a desire in several who agreed with him 
upon the main points of Christian faith, to try 
what could be done towards forming a meeting 
for social worship, to be conducted by the mem- 
bers themselves. The rest is sufficiently known 
without entering into a particular detail. What 
was originally the assembling of perhaps about 
twenty persons in one of the rooms of the Old 



viii 



J»REFACE. 



College, and a service which did not afford a 
word of original composition, has become a 
Church, with a regular charter of incorpora- 
tion, and a respectable congregation, meeting 
in a commodious building. But this increase 
has demanded proportioiiably increasing exer- 
tion, and a devotion of time and attention far 
beyond what those, to whose lot it has fallen to 
conduct the services, could have originally con- 
templated. 

Having to the extent of his ability (and some- 
times beyond it) discharged that part of the 
duty which thus devolved upon him, and, sen- 
sible that the increase of years and their atten- 
dant infirmities will not much longer admit of 
his continuing it, the author of the following 
discourses adventures their publication, not 
only as a record of past labours, but as a spe- 
cimen of what may be effected by a willing 
mind and moderate abilities — by a plain under- 
standing, open to the simplicity of gospel truth, 
w^hen the assistance of a regularly-educated mi- 
nister is not immediately attainable. Whatever 
may be thought of sucli a plan by those who 
are attached to an hierarchy and a privileged 
order, he cannot but believe that it is sanction- 
ed by the genuine spirit of evangelical liberty^ 
and ought to receive the prudent encourage, 
ment of all its real friends. 



PUErAGE. ix 

He could not persuade himself that it would 
be ri^^ht to exclude from the volume all such dis- 
courses as contained any thing of a doctrinal 
nature. Judicious friends had suggested the 
probability that the prejudices existing against 
Unitarian sentiments would operate against the 
favourable reception of any other than moral 
and practical subjects. But he was convinced^ 
upon reflection^ that the most effectual way of 
ohy'isitiug prejudices^ is a candid and unreserved 
exposition of the principles which excite them^ 
and, by thus subjecting them to the examina- 
tion of deliberate judgment, to change prejudice 
into conviction^ whether as to their real confor- 
mity with, or departure from truth. And with 
respect to practice, it has always appeared to 
him, that whatever in any religious opinions is 
correct as to faith, must have a connexion, not 
very remote, with purity and piety of heart, and 
rectitude of conduct; and he is firmly persuaded, 
that the faith which rests upon the foundation 
of that intelligible and unsophisticated form of 
sound words ^ "There is One God, and One 
Mediator between God and man, the man 
Christ Jesus,*^ will in this, as in every other 
respect, abide the strictest scrutiny. Would it 
not moreover have been to disappoint the public 
expectation, to send abroad a number of dis« 
courses, the production of a known Unitarian, 



X 



PREFACE. 



without a single feature which should have 
marked their correspondence with their origin? 
The author could not thus su!)ject himself to 
the imputation of shrinking from the open 
avowal of what in his conscience he believes 
to be sacred truth. Nor do the motives for 
adopting so decisive a line of conduct stop at 
this point. It is almost incredible, what a mass 
of misinformation and what a want of informa- 
tion exists^ as to the real nature of Unitarian 
principles. The causes are obvious. The po- 
pular clamour was at once raised against them 
as deistical — infidel — Christ- denying. The 
leaders of opinion among almost every sect 
have joined in reprobating them. Episcopa- 
lians have traced in them the high road to 
Atheism. By Presbyterians ^^this way^^ has 
been characterised as the Unitarian heresy/^ 
and its mode of worship blasphemy; and in 
public prayer, after having been addressed for 
the most part to God the Father, Jehovah- Jesus 
has been invoked to confound all those who 
deny his deity. By Baptists, its professors have 
been denounced as confederates with Satan ; 
and some, who have stretched their charity so 
far as to allow them the merit of sincerity, have 
yet declared^ that they verily believed, if they 
were to enter the " anti-trinitarian synagogue^^' 
the walls would fall upon them ! Scarcely any 



PREFACE. 



xi 



thing is more common than for persons, who, 
unappalled by a danger so imminent^ have ven- 
tured to approach and attend till some progress 
has been made in the sermon, to walk, and 
sometimes to rush out of the house (in utter 
contempt of decency) without staying to hear 
what upon the whole miglit have induced them 
to adopt a less unfavourable decision. Neither 
is it to be doubted, that many whose candour 
would incline them to give a fair hearing to 
what might be advanced in behalf of opinions 
so palpably the object of unreasonable prepos- 
session/ are yet prevented by various, and in 
their view necessary obstacles, from an atten- 
dance, which to enable them to form a correct 
judgment, must be to a considerable degree 
constant — how^ then can they be furnished with 
an opportunity of doing this so well as by the 
medium of the press? And since it is through 
that channel that many of the calumnies above 
alluded to have been propagated, by what other 
means can they be resisted with equal hopes of 
success, than an ingenuous disclosure, in the 
same mode, of the whole truth ? 

It will be found, nevertheless, by those who 
can prevail on themselves to peruse the volume 
throughout, that a considerable part of it is de- 
voted to subjects which have no necessary re- 
lation to the opinions of any particular denomi- 



xii 



PREFACE. 



nation of Christians. And to obviate^ as far as 
possible^ the disinclination that may be expect- 
ed to prevail against such an unfashionable 
species of readings a few discourses are intro- 
duced, which, having been composed for occa- 
sions usually attracting numerous and promis- 
cuous auditories, may possibly be received with 
general indulgence^ if not with approbation. 

July, 18ir. 



(j;^ The Society having established a Theological 
Library^ access may be had to it by all reputable per- 
sons^ through any constant attendant on their worship, 
who will be responsible for the safe return of the book 
or books borrowed. 



SERMON I. 



THE 

FOUJyOATIOJV OF SUPREME LOVE TO GOD; 

OB, 

«THE FIRST COMMANDMENT OF ALL" 
ILLUSTRATED. 



Mark, xii. 28, 29, 30. 

And 07ie of the scribes came, and havitig heard thefu reasoning io- 
gether, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him. 
Which is the first commandment of all P 

And Jesiis answered him, The first of all the commandments is-^ 
Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord; 

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ail thy heart, and with 
all thy soulf and with all thy mind, and vjith all thy strength — this is 
the first commandment. 

It is very possible that the attention of mankind 
may be so taken up with the circumstantials of reli- 
gion as to be totally drawn aside from its principles, 
its life, and its power— to substitute its forms for the 
practice of its duties. Such was the case with the 
scribes and pharisees in the time of our Saviour. 
Ceremonies, even in their minutest points, were ri- 

B 



14 



Foundation of 



gidly enjoined and scrupulously observed ; but the 
weightier matters of the law were passed by, and lost 
sight of. The person whose conversation with Christ 
is recorded in this passage, seems to have been an 
honest and zealous enquirer after truth, who had 
missed his object for want of setting out in a proper 
direction. He had probably been witness to long and 
ardent debates among his learned brethren, xvhich of 
the precepts of the Mosaic law required the liighest 
degree of regard j some contending for the superiori- 
ty of circumcision, some of sacrifices, and some of 
phylacteries. Struck with the satisfactor-y and con- 
vincing reply of Jesus to the objection urged by the 
Sadducees against the resurrection, he eagerly em- 
braces the opportunity of having his doubts resolved 
as to the question he had heard so warmly agitated. 
The answer he obtained seems to have excited that 
pleasing surprise with which an ingenuous mind re- 
ceives the sudden illumination of truth — of truth so 
self-evident that it was matter of astonishment that it 
sho Jd have been so long undiscovered — ^so convincing 
as not to leave room for the smallest remnant of doubt, 
and from which consequences of the highest practical 
value were naturally and clearly deducible. It is ob- 
served by Dr. Doddridge, tliat the mingled feelings 
of surprise and admiration excited in the scribe by 
our Lord's reply, are by no means sufficiently mark- 
ed by the expression in our common version — well 
iBaster.'' The import of the original is* — Excel- 
lently, finely, beautifully spidven. Master!" *<Truje it 
is as thou hast said — for One there is, and there is 
none <}ther than he" — and so on. And Jesus, ever 
rca^JY to encourage sentiments and disp')sitions of sci 
excellent a tendencyj immediately signifies his appro» 



Siipreine Love to God. 15 



bation, and declares the man who entertained them 
to be in the right way for becoming a subject of tlmt 
kingdom which he was about to establish in the 
world ; since he had discovered and laid hold of the 
grand foundation on which it was to be erected — 
foundation which he elsewhere declares shall not fail 
though heaven and earth should pass away. 

To the supreme love of the only living and true 
God, and the arguments upon which it must necessa- 
rily rest, permit me at this time to call your atten- 
tion. Our great and good Creator treats us as ra- 
tional beings ; nor does he require obedience to any 
of his precepts, without convincing us that what he 
expects at our hands will stand the test of ihe strict- 
est enquiry, as well in respect of its agreement with 
the eternal prindples of reason and justice, as its ad- 
vantageous consequenc \s to ourselves. 

Now the regard, esteem, or affection, required in 
such emphatic and exclusive terms in this first com- 
mandment of the lav^> can be rendered only on ac- 
count of absolute and unrivalled excellence on the pai't 
of its object, and of unequalled obligation on our's. 
But it is a contradiction in terms to suppose that 
there can be more than One being who can possess 
the former or confer the latter — Jehovah our God 
IS THAT ONE — therefore we must love him with all 
the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. The 
points for our present consideration consequently w ill 
be — 'the Unity of God—his supreme excellence — and our 
having received benejits from him such as no other 
being could bestows 

1. Incomprehensible as the Deity must necessarily 
be in his eternity, his immensity, and other attributes 
of his nature, his Unity is so clear, perspicuous and 



16 



Foundation of 



intelligible, that it may truly be said not to admit of 
explanation — the attcnipt would only darken what is 
in itself pure and eternal light. I do not say that it 
was discoverable by the mere force of natural rea- 
son, unassisted by revelation ; this is highly impro- 
bable when it is considered how prone mankind have 
been, in all ages and nations of the world, to run into 
the notion of a multiplicity of Gods, and how strange- 
ly even those who have been more recently instruct- 
ed in this important particular (I mean both Jews 
and Cljristians) have turned aside from it. Never- 
tlieless, there is not any one point upon which their 
respective codes have been more positive and ex- 
press ; both alike wear this mark of their origin, im- 
pressed by the hand of the Great Author himself; and 
to the truth of the proposition thus revealed, reason, 
when disembarrassed from the fetters of prejudice and 
error, yields its immediate assent. Nay, so power- 
fully does it operate upon the mind as an irrefutable 
axiom, that it is held by many, however unaccount- 
ably, even in connexion with opinions by which it is 
directly contravened. Here, indeed, reason is laid 
aside, and professedly treated with contempt. An ap- 
peal is made to the scriptures; but alas! what be- 
comes of the authority of scripture, when it is made 
to speak a language inconsistent not only with rea- 
son but with itself? Reason tells us that every ope- 
ration in the material system of things, whether in 
the Ijeavens above or the earth beneath, is easily and 
satisfactorily referable to One all-efficient cause; for 
the power of one infinite almighty Ageiit must be 
equal to every imaginable effect that does not imply 
an absolute impossibility or contradiction ; and there 
appears a perfect coincidence of reason with scrip- 



Supreme Love to God. 17 

ture, when we find such passages as the following, of 
which there are many — I am the Lord that maketh 
all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens a?one; 
that spreadeth abroad the earth ly myself.^^ Now 
can ideas, as clear and definite as language can make 
them, receive any elucidation from the notion that a 
plurality of persons was comprised in this one being 
who speaks in the singular number, and that these 
had each his several office in the work of creation, 
when no such thing is intimated? In like manner 
when our obedience is required to the precept in the 
text, under the authority of the Lord our God as One 
Lord, does it render the duty more intelligible or 
practicable to consider this One Lord as compound- 
ed of several persons, each of them bearing the title 
and attributes of God, and so claiming our equal re- 
verence and affection ? Can it possibly be collected, 
from any thing that Christ ever said, that such was 
his meaning on the present occasion, or that he in- 
tended to hold forth the idea that himself was the se- 
cond of these persons ? Such a doctrine, therefore, 
being in direct contradiction both to the letter and 
spirit of the first commandment of all, we must ne- 
cessarily conclude, that, however distinguished a 
place it may hold in articles and confessions of hu- 
man composition, it is not one of the weighter mat- 
ters of the law* It could not be meant by our Lord 
that the scribe should so understand him. Nothing 
like such an understanding is implied in the scribe'a 
answer, nor did our Lord take such to be his view of 
the matter, wlsen he told him — "Thou art not far 
from the kingdom of God.^' The foundation, there- 
fore, of the first and great commandment standeth 
sure. He whose name alone is Jehovah is the Most 

B % 



18 



Foundation of 



High. He is the Lord, even he only^ and this his 
glory will he not give to any other. To none other 
belong the titles of Lord our God — only true God- 
King eternal, immortal and invisible — blessed and 
only Potentate, with others of a like import. There 
is but One Being in the universe (and He is that 
one) who can rightfully command our love, with all 
our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. And 
we shall be convinced with what propriety the duty 
is enjoined when we attend, 

2. To those unrivalled excellences of his nature 
%vhich render him the object of our supreme regard 
and affection. 

Here, as m the case already considered, revelation 
having made the discovery, reason accepts and re- 
joices in it; and, in every right exercise of its pow- 
ers, is convinced of the fitness and accuracy of what 
it hath pleased the Father of lights thus to communi- 
cate. It exults in being enabled to trace to their pro- 
per source, the effects of that power, wisdom, and 
goodness so abundantly manifest in the works of 
creation; and while thus experiencing the delightful 
feelings of gratitude and admiration, to improve them 
into love. It is in the sacred volume alone that we 
are to look for the sublime and glorious combination 
of the natural and moral attributes of the Deity; and 
for that which places him infinitely above every other 
being, however excellent and dignified. Other beings 
may in their degree, be comparatively perfect, but 
Ms only is that original, independent, and absolute 
perfection which excludes all conjpetition or compa- 
rison. Besides him there is, strictly speaking, none 
good, none wise, none holy. If it were possible for 
the language of mortals to convey adequate ideas on 



Supreme Love to God. 19 



a subject so far above even angelic conception, it 
must be in some surh lofty style as the following— 
<<From everlasting to everlasting he is Go?l" — «*The 
Lord is the true God ; he is the living God and an 
everlasting King''- — Honour and majesty are before 
him'^— He hath measured the waters in the hollow 
of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and 
comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and 
weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a ba- 
lance'^^ — " He layeth the foundations of the earth, and 
formeth the spirit of man within him'' — «^ He filleth 
heaven and earth," yea, the heaven of heavens 
cannot contain him" — He fainteth not neither is 
weary" — He doth according to his will in the ar mies 
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth"— 
<^ His counsel shall stand, and he will do all his plea- 
sure." These are some of the sublime descriptions 
of the divine attributes found in the Old Testament; 
nor does the New speak a different language. — He is 
the " Lord of heaven and earth, who dwelleth not in 
temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with 
mens' hands as though he needeth any thing" — He 
is a Spirit, whom no man hath seen or can see" — 
^< Known unto him are all his works from the begin- 
ning of the world" — With him is no variableness 
or shadow of turning" — He is " the Father of glory" 
— He dwells in light which none can approach 
unto" — <^ He is liglit, he is love," the original and 
inexhaustible fountain of both. 

You cannot but have perceived, my friends, that in 
all these various definitions of superlative excellence 
the idea unity is strictly preserved — it is thus that 
these bright and beautiful rays are, as it were, col- 
lected into a focus — present a clear and distinct 



so 



Foundation of 



image to the mental eye — and evince the practicabi- 
lity of obedience to the first and great commandment. 
It is thus that we are to love the Lord our God (as 
the scribe expressed himself in his answer to our Sa- 
viour) with all the understanding ; but how we are to 
do this when the understanding is professedly to be 
set aside as of no value, I own myself unable to dis- 
cover. 

I persuade myself that none of my audience will 
suspect me of an intention to keep out of view, or in 
the least to depreciate that character which far tran- 
scended every other that had appeared on earth in 
its approaches towards, and resemblance of the di- 
vine, and in which the image of the invisible God 
shone most conspicuous, when I remark that none of 
these excellences or attributes are, either in terms, 
or by any fair and natural construction, ascribed to 
our Saviour Jesus Christ in the scriptures ; but that 
the distinction between original and derived glory and 
dignity is either as clearly expressed as by words it 
can be, or as satisfactorily and consistently inferri- 
ble as a sober and unprejudiced judgment can desire. 
Thus, if Jesus be Lord of all, it is because God 
hath made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ.'^ 
If he were great, he expressly declared that "the 
Father was greater than he.'* If he were good, he 
disclaimed all competition on that account with Him^ 
to whom alone that title is exclusively applicable. If 
he were the Lord of glory, it was because he <^ re- 
ceived honour and glory from God the Father.'' If 
he was holy, he was "the holy one of God"— he 

whom the Father had sanctified and sent into the 
world." If in him vi^ere hid all the treasures of wis- 
dom, of knowledge, of power, it w^as ^< God who 



Supreme Love to God. 



2i 



anointed him with the holy spirit and with power" — 
he was the wisdom of God^ and the power of God. 
Whatever he is to us, whether wisdom or righteous- 
ness, or sanctifit ation, or redemption, it is because 
God hath made" him such. Christ came a light 
into the world; but he came according to the appoint- 
ment of him who is original uncreated light, and who 
at first commanded the light to shine out of dark- 
ness. His power over all flesh— over all things in 
heaven and in earth, and his authority to execute 
judgment, he expressly acknowledges to be given 
him; but this universal power can be consistently un- 
derstood only of all things relating to his mission^ 
his gospel, its prevalence, its universal reception and 
final consummation. This limitation of the phrase 
all things may well be allowed, when we consider the 
vast variety of senses in which it is used in the sa- 
cred writings; and that its absolute and unrestricted 
meaning must extend to all creatures and worlds in 
the universe, of which God alone is the Creator and 
Governor, and with which the office of Christ, as 
mediator between God and man, can have nothing 
to do. 

Thus we see that high as is the estimation in which 
we are bound to hold the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Only Lord God — his God and Father, is to be t!ie 
object of our supreme veneration and regard. In this 
we cannot be mistaken, as we have his own warrant 
and authority for it. I come, 

3. To consider the duty of superlative love to 
God, as it results from infinite and consequently un- 
equalled obligation. And here likewise we shall find, 
that the same scriptures Avhich demand our most ex- 
alted and unreserved love to the Lord our God as 



Foundation of 



one Lordy lay a sufficient foundation for it in the re- 
presentation they have given of benefits conferred, 
such as we could have derived from no other ori]2;in. 

Here then we behold the One Great Eternal Jeho- 
vah uniformly and exclusively exhibited in the cha- 
racter of our Creator — as the bestower of a gift 
which must necessarily precede and be the basis of 
all otiiers— ^even that existence. It is he, w^ho hav- 
ing <^ formed the earth, created man upon it/' His 
hands have formed and fashioned us," and we are 
^« fearfully and wonderfully made." " We are his 
offspring" — he is the Father of onr spirits" — our 
Fathel* who is in heaven." The breath of the Al- 
mighty hath given us life." *« In him we live, and 
move, and have our being." He is also our Pre- 
server. He holdeih our soul in life, and l>is visi- 
tation preserveth our spirit." In Ids hand is the 
soul of every living thing and the breath of all man- 
kind." His are ail our w ays." He is our «• keeper 
and our shade on our right hand." He redeemeth 
our lives from destruction." It is he who hath de- 
livered — who doth deliver — and in whom we must 
confide for continued deliverance." Moreover he is 
our Benefactor. He crowneth us w itii loving 
kindness and tender mercies" — he ^^loadeth us with 
benefits" — <<The earth is full of the goodness of the 
Lord." He hath nt>t left himself without witness, 
in that he doth good, giving rain from heaven and 
fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad- 
ness." He maketli his sun to rise, and his rain to 
descend, on the evil and on the good." He «^giveth 
us richly all tilings to enjoy." He <<knoweth what 
things we have need of before w^e ask him." But 
these benefits, however valuable, are but of an infe= 



Supreme Love to God. 28 



rior description. He bath blessed us with all spiri- 
tual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus." 

The grar e (or favour) of God bringeth salvation." 
The kindness and love of God our Saviour towards 
man appeared, in that he saved us, not for (previous) 
works of righteousness whi( h we had doiie, but ac- 
cording to his mercy." ^< Gorf, who is rich in mercy, 
for his great love wherewith he loved us" — shew- 
ed the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness 
towards us through Christ Jesus." As the consum- 
mation of all — he is the God of all grace, who by 
Christ Jesus hath called us to his eternal gloryJ^ He 
hath given to us eternal life^ and this life is in his 
Son." The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus 
Christ our Lord !" 

And do you not here also, my brethren, find your- 
selves obliged implicitly to subscribe to the propriety 
and necessity of the first and great commandment ? 
Whom are you ever directed to regard as your Crea- 
tor and Preserver in the absolute and exclusive, and 
your Benefactor in the highest and original sense of 
the terms, but the One only tivi27G and true 
God ! The matter might be doubtful, and the mind 
could not but be distracted with uncertainty, if we 
found the scriptures asserting that he who gave and 
he who was given — that he wfio sent and he who de- 
livered the message of grace, so interesting and im- 
portant to the world, were not only equals in person, 
power, and glory, but at the same time one undivided 
being. The language of prophecy affords no warrant 
for this, when it treats of tije Messiah as the chosen 
servant of the Most High ; whom he would uphold, 
as his elect, in whom his soul delighted. And this 
sure word of prophecy was confirmed by the voice 



Foundation of 



frnin heaven— H^tf This is my beloved Son in whom 1 
am well pleased— hear ve hinu" Take the following 
specimens of his own explicit, repeated, and unvary- 
ing testimony. "He that sent me is true; and the 
words that 1 speak, I speak not of myself, but 1 speak 
to the world the things which I have heard of him— > 
as my Father hath taught me I speak these things. I 
came not of myself, but he sent me. I can of mine 
own self do nothing— the Father that dwelleth in me 
(that is by the spirit of counsel and might) he doeth 
the work — as he hath given me commandment so £ 
d(»,'' Can we then, after an impartial and indepen- 
dent examination and collation of the scriptures, and 
in the sound and sober exercise of our rational facul- 
ties, come to the conclusion that the persons thus 
speaking and spoken of were numerically one? Of 
the same individual essence? That it was he who 
dwells in light inaccessible—whom no man hath seen 
or can see — who only hath immortality in its proper 
and incommunicable sense— that it was he who was 
made a curse for us? Who was taken, and with wick- 
ed hands crucified and slain? And who died, and rose, 
and revived, that he might be Lord boih of the dead 
and of the living ? Yes ! all this and more than this 
may and miisi be believed, because it has been de- 
cided that the person of Christ contains, in insepara- 
ble union, and without conversion, composition or 
confusion, both the divine and the human natures ! 
Let us for a moment ccmsider whether this doctrine 
%vill stand proof by the axiom prefixed to the first 
and great commandment. According to the Chun h 
(not the scriptures) there are txvo persons (for the 
tfijrd onay at present be left out of the quest if)n) earh 
entitled to all the " essential attributes of deity,'^ God 



Supreme Love to God. 



25 



the Father and God tlie Scm. It was the latter and 
not the /orinm v\ ho took upon him man's nature; 
<<and s<» was and continues to be God and man in 
two entire and distinct natures and one person for 
ever." But the same is not said, or even pretended 
of God the Father, so that here is an ackn >wled.eed 
separation and distinrtion, as t xpress and definite as 
the obscurity of the subject will admit, but whif h no 
argument can recont ile with that form of soi«nd 
words — "The Lord our God is fme Lord/' What a 
relief to the mind to turn from these bewilderins;' and 
unprofitable tenets to the purity, simplirity and pers- 
picuity of that eternal and immutable truth — There 
is one God and none other but he With what 
complacency and readiness do we enter into the spi- 
rit of the injunction, under the united influence of 
supreme authority and unequalled obligation^ to love 
him with all the hearty and with all the under- 
standings and with all the soul, and with all the 
strength.^* 

Do we then, think you, by tliis doctrine, under- 
value or weaken our obligations to our Lord and Sa- 
viour Jesus Christ ? By no means — ^W^hy do we, as 
believers in Christ, love God ? It is because " he first 
loved us, and gave his Son that we might live through 
him.'' Christ is the « unspeakable gift of God 
and " if we love him who gave, we must also love him 
who is given of him." As well might we suppose it 
possible to rejoice in the fountain and not in the 
stream which it pours forth for our refreshment, as 
to love God and not to love the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Yet would not our love to Christ stand on its proper 
gHMjnd, if we did not consider him as acting in the 
business of human redemption^ although in perfect 

C 



36 



Foundation of 



submission to the will of his heavenly Father, yet 
ivcQ\y and voluntarily, generously and disinterested- 
ly. And if we feel as we ought, the value of such 
grace and favour, conferred at such an expense, and 
from such motives, our warm and grateful affections, 
thus excited, will not rest till they reach the summit 
of goodness, of glory and of bliss—the pure, eternal, 
inexhaustible source of light and love, in the contem- 
plation, enjoyment and adoration of whom we hope 
they vvill be employed through eternal ages. 

I shall close the subject with an inference or two. 

1. We may gather, from the very terms and tenor 
of the first and second commandments, the utter im- 
probability that it should be true, as is sometimes as- 
serted, that our nature is " made opposite to all good, 
and prone to all evil, and that continually.^ Would 
our Maker have commanded us to walk without hav- 
ing given us feet, or insisted upon our seeing without 
having formed the eye? With as much reason might 
he have done these, as expect us to love supreme ex- 
cellenc e, and to be grateful for distinguishing favours, 
if we had been naturally incapable of exercising these 
virtuous and amiable affections. 

My friends, this is a mistaken representation of 
human nature; although it must be confessed that it 
has some lamentable defect when it can find gratifi- 
cation in drawing such a distorted picture of iiself. 
It has, doubtless, its wants and its weaknesses, which 
Cljristianity was intended to supply and to cure — ^But 
Jioxv? — if it be said that almighty and supernatural 
gra( e works in us that instantaneous change by which 
we become what we were not before, or that we are 
of the number chosen from all etern'ty to holiness and 
happiness^ it is obvious to reply, that either of these 



Supreme Love to God, 



27 



supposed cases is utterly inconsistent, both with com- 
mand and obedience, for they imply the nonexistence 
of that free agency without which law would be an 
absolute nullity — a term without a meaning. The 
divine operation in this case, is not that of irresisti- 
ble power or capricious partiality, but of measures 
consistf^nt with justice and mercy, and adapted to 
the faculties of rational beings, by calls, invitations, 
promises and hopes — by faithful warnings, and re- 
presentations of the opposite consequences of a vir- 
tuous and a vicious course of conduct. But I correct 
myself— r admit the interference of an influence, hard 
if n(>t impossible to be resisted — for how can it be, 
that a creature, made for immortal existence and 
endless happiness, should deliberately choose to con- 
sider himself as utterly disqualified for aay honoura- 
ble or laudable exertions — as averse from moral 
beauty or excellence — as dead to every ingenuous 
feeling, and as capable of, and inclined to, every 
thing shocking and detestable ? No! let it rather be 
believed that when bodily infirmities do not prevent, 
he CANNOT resist the united, the benign, the sweetly- 
constraining impulse of parental authority, unmerit- 
ed love, boundless mercy, unceasing beneficence; in- 
spiring sentiments and inciting to actions the most 
generous, commendable, lovely and of good report — 
thus opening all the sources from whence flow the 
purest joy, the most durable pleasure, and that peace 
which passeth understanding, and whereby the man 
is exalted to the nearest resemblance of his Creator. 
We may infer, 

2, That if our love to God is to be supreme, and 
religious w^orship be one of the proper expressions of 



Foundation, 8^c. 



that love, such worship ought to be addressed to him 

alone. 

We bow in all things to the prescriptions of Christ, 
as the authorised expositor of the Divine will. He 
has given everlasting permanency to the first and 
great commandment of the law ; and has also recog- 
nised the validity of the parallel precept, Thou 
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him onhj shalt 
thou serve.'^ In perfect consistency therewith, he 
taugfit and pi'actised the worship of the Father; him- 
self claiming no titles or honours that were in reality 
divine, or that he miglit not lawfully receive as a 
prophet and messenger of the Most High ; nor did 
his aposth\s afterwards speak of him in any terms 
but such as w-ell became his exaltation at God^s right 
fiand to be a Prince and a Saviour. Let none then 
condeuin us that we dare not divide our religious 
adoration any more than our supreme love, between 
the Lord our God and any other being whomsoever. 
Most cordially do we vs'ish — most fervently do we 
pray, that the time may soon arrive, when in the 
name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every 
tongue confess him to be Lord, but primarily and 
expressly to the glory of God the Father Almighty, 
who is above all, and through all, and in all,'' — For 
THE Lord oub God is One Lord/' — Unto him 
therefore be ascribed the kingdom, the power, the 
glory and the praise, for ever and ever. Amen. 



SERMON II. 



THE DIVINE BEING CONSIDERED UNDER THE META- 
PHOR OF LIGHT, AND AS THE FOUNTAIN OF NATU. 
RAL AND REVEALED LIGHT. 



Genesis, i. 3. 

God said let there be light — and there was light-^ 

compared with 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
Godf ivho commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath 
sinned in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
God in the face of Jesus Christ-^ 
and 1 John, i. 5. 
God is lighty and in him is no darkness at all. 

If we could travel backward in imagination to 
the period when the materials which compose the 
planet we inhabit were a rude and shapeless mass — 
dark, waste, and wild, beneath the frown of night," 
— we might form some adequate conception of the 
glorious, the amazing scene which presented itself, 
when, after confusion had been reduced to order by 
the silent, but irresistible energy of the divine spirit, 
the veil was all at once withdrawn, and the « rising 
birth of nature" was beheld advancing towards the 
perfection of beauty and harmony. An effect so in- 
stantaneous, wrought by power so far beyond com- 
prehension, it is impossible, by any effort of human 
language, to describe in terms equally expressive, as 

C £ 



30 



God is Lis^ht. 



in that simple and concise, but truly sublime and ma- 
jestic sentence — God said — let there be light— and 
there was li.^ht.'^ If, again, we could, with the fine 
imagination of a Milton, figure to ourselves an hu- 
man being, in t!ie full possession and maturity of his 
bodily and mental powers, but an entire stranger to 
this material system, at once introduced to a view of 
the illuminated face of nature, what a flood of de- 
light and astonishment would rush upon his senses ! 
In what a rapturous perturbation would they, for a 
while, wander from object to object! One however, 
would, ere long, powerfully and principally arrest 
his attention~even that brilliant orb which seems 
to look from his sole dominion'' like the sovereign 
dispenser of life and joy. And if, divinely instruct- 
ed, he should rise from the contemplation of created 
glory to the Great Maker himself in goodness and 
in power pre-eminent,'' invisible, or but dimly seen 
in these his lowest works," how must he be lost in 
W'onder, love, and praise !" 

When, through the corruption and degeneracy of 
mankind, the knowledge of Him to whom religious 
liomage exclusively belongs, was lost, that which was 
paid to the host of heaven was certainly the least in- 
excusable and absurd. The indispensable necessity 
of their influences, particularly those of the Sun, to 
human existence and comfort, yet so far beyond the 
reach of human controul, seemed to call for every 
thing that gratitude could pay, or supplication pro- 
cure, for their continuance. When, by slow degrees, 
the intellect of man began to return towards the ori- 
ginal state of dignity from which it had fallen, and 
to exercise that wonderful faculty it possesses of giv- 
ing force and impression to abstract ideas by the aid 



God is LiM. 



31 



of the bodily senses, it was natural that light, the 
source and harbinger of animation, a( tivity, and uti- 
lity, should be adopted as the emblem of all that is 
excellent and happy. In no writings shall we find 
this striking allusion applied in so great an extent 
as in the holy scriptures. It is there exhibited as 
tlic representative and companion of Truths which 
we know by experience affects the mind, as light 
does the eye, on its perception, with a pleasure not 
to be described. As an external influence, we find it 
denoting comfort, deliverance, instruction, direction. 
As an internal feeling, joy and gladness, hope, wis- 
dom, knowledge, and improvement. As expressive 
of personal worth, it signifies virtue, reputation, ex- 
ample — good men are " the light of the world, chil- 
dren of light and of the day.'^ It has a reference not 
only to present but to future happiness — ^< light is 
sown for the righteous'^— the heavenly felicity is the 

inheritance of saints in light.'^ It rises still higher 
when it is represented as an adjunct of the Deity — 

He covereth himself with light as with a garment'^ 
— ^< He dwells in unapproachable light." But the 
language of the apostle John (whose words I have 
read as a part of my text) exceeds that of all others 
in boldness and energy — God is light.'* He is, 
and has in himself, every thing of which ligiit, un- 
mixed and most refined, can be supposed to convey 
the idea. In his essence there is not the least tinc- 
ture of imperfection or obscurity. It is in its figura- 
tive application to the Divine Being himself, and his 
communications to the human race, that I mean to 
consider the term in the subsequent part of this dis- 
course. 



God is Light. 



We may thfn discern a beautiful and appropriate 
analogy between the element of li.ejht and the spiritu- 
ality or omnipresence of God. We know of notliing 
that comes nearer to our ideas of spirit. Its particles 
are minute beyond all conception. Its motion has 
been estimated at 200,000 mih^s in a second of time. 
Its rays are darting and crossing each other, in every 
possible direction, without causing confusion in the 
appearance of the objects from which they proceed. 
It is diffused through every part of the universe. The 
sun a?id stars emit it, the planets receive and enjoy 
it ; and nothing appears more reasonable than to 
conclude, that the most remote systems and their in- 
habitants, liowever they may be supposed to differ 
from us in other respects, arc so constituted, that 
light is as necessary to their existence and happiness 
as it is to ours. It is therefore the inseparable com- 
panion of that Providence which giveth unto all 
life and breath and all things.'^ Again — It fitly re- 
presents the divine purity. A critical analysis of the 
otlier elements (even of the air we breathe) discovers 
a combination of various ingredients; but no opera- 
tion to which light has been subjected exhibits any 
thing more than a diversity of colours, each of them 
pure and essential light ; all, like the distinct perfec- 
tions of the Deity, contributing to form one bright, 
uniform, beautiful, and beneficial emanation. The 
other elements are liable to perpetual change and 
fluctuation within themselves. Light, like its eter- 
nal and immortal Archetype, who is without varia- 
bleness or shadow of turning, knows no such change; 
and, when interposing obstacles are removed, never 
fails to visit our eyes in all its native and undimi- 



God is Light. 



33 



uislied splendour. Light, in its nature and effects, 
is ()j)posed to all fallacy and imposture. The Lord is 
<<a God of truth and without iniquity''— he keep- 
eth truth for ever'' — his faithfulness never faileth." 
The source of light, ever since his creation, has been 
unceasingly diffusing it all around him; yet, for any 
thing we know to the contrary, his substance has 
suffered no diminution, but he still pours forth the 
blessing in streams which cannot faiU but at the will 
of Him w ho first opened their fountain. So the ^ood- 
7iess of the Lord flows on in an uninterrupted, unex- 
hausted, and inexhaustible current; it is from ever- 
lasting to everlasting." But — let me forbear — the 
similitude, delightful and impressive as it is, fails 
while we attempt to support it — nor is it within the 
reach of the human powers, however assisted, by re- 
search iiv by comparison to find out God. Here we 
lose ourselves in light ineffable. All the glory of the 
most glorious of created things is no more than the 
shade of the great Creator's ; and our bodily eyes 
are not more dazzled and oppressed in an attempt to 
gaze upon the Sun, when shining in his strength, 
than those of the mind, when we would conceive of 
the Divinity — «^ consummate, absolute, full-orbed, in 
his whole round of rays complete." iJere, Light, of 
all things the purest and most ethereal, is too gross 
to be the vehicle of perfect knowledge. Although in- 
conceivably subtile and refined, it is yet as truly 
matter as the ground we tread upon ; and therefore 
of a nature, totally distinct from, and infinitely infe- 
rior to spirit. Although Light pervades every part of 
space, yet its sources are countless in number, and 
widely distant from each other. But of intellectual 
lights and moral perfection, there is only One Foun- 



34 



God is Light. 



tain, and none of his peculiar glories giveth he to 
another. Light nfiay be turned out of its direc t course 
by reflection from an intervening body, or refraction 
through a different medium ; but the divine rounsf^Is 
move on towards their accomplishment without va- 
riation or irregularity. However intense at the point 
of emission, light becomes weaker in proportion as it 
increases its distance, till at length its rays are too 
scattered to produce any effect on the organs of vi- 
sion — ^butthe power and presence of Jehovah are the 
same in every imaginable point of infinite space. Fi- 
nally — it is within tiie compass of possibility that the 
light which slH)ne out of, may again be absorbed in 
darkness — yea, the stars may fade away and the 
sun himself grow dim with age" — »but ^' the Lord, 
the everlasting God, fainteth imt, neither is weary'^ 
' — The High and Li»fty Ojnte who inhabiteth eter- 
nity,'' hath neither beginning of days nor end of 
years ! 

But if Light, in its metaphorical sense, be so hap- 
pily applied as lo furnish some suitable, though im- 
perfect views of the divine nature and attributes, may 
we not also der ive some instruction from the nega- 
tive proposition stated by the Apostle — In God is 
no darkness at all?'' It is said indeed of the Most 
High, that <^ clouds and darkness are round aboiit 
him" — that " his way is in the sea, and his path in 
the deep waters, and his footsteps are not know n," 
But these, and such like expressions, refer only to 
the contractedness and feebleness of the human pow- 
ers, which are unable to comprehend the ctuinsels and 
purposes of an infinite mind. As well might we sup- 
pose that the Sun does not shine, when hid from our 
view by thick vapours^ or wfien sunk below the ho- 



God is Light. 



35 



rizon, as that there is any r!iin|^ in God that answers 
to the idea ot* darkness, whether natural or moral. — 
Ptissibly indeed, to understand wliat God is notf ra- 
ther than what he is, may be best adapted to the fa- 
culties of aW created beings — certainhj to ours in their 
present state. Limited as they are, there are never- 
tlielesssome points of mathematical, physical and mo- 
ral tru'h,in relation to which we are in no dans^er of 
erring; and we may safely conclude that if any thing 
contradictory to them be applied to the nature and 
perfecticms of the Supreme Being, it must have the 
properties of that darkness of which in him there can 
be none. Thus the original idea of Unity is per- 
fectly simple, unambiguous, and familiar to our rea- 
son. However we apply it, the same may be said of 
it as of light, that what it is cannot be mistaken for 
what it is not. Being propounded to us by revelation, 
in the clearest and most explicit terms, as a definition 
or an attribute of the divine essence, our deliberate 
judgment receives, embraces, and adheres to it with 
complete conviction and satisfaction. Here is nothing 
dubious or obscure — nothing beyond the reach of our 
clearest conceptions of reality and certainty. To be- 
lieve otherwise, on any human authority, is either 
quietly to close the eyes of our understanding, or to 
be involved in a mist and darkness, out of which it 
is confessedly not in the power of those who have led 
us into it to deliver us. 

Again — If we view God as the Creator of mankind, 
it is impossible to separate the act of gi^ ing exist- 
ence from benevolence, without casting a dismal shade 
over the chctracter of an omnipotent ht ing. What can 
excite greater horror in our mind-* than the bringing 
into life with the purpose of making for ever misera- 



36 



God is Light. 



ble? Yet this is a consc qiience inevitably attached to 
the doctrine of eternal and irreversible decrees. Or 
if we believe him to sustain the relation of a Father, 
shoidd we think it right, if a Father, without regard 
to the moral disposition and behaviour of his chil- 
dren, should capriciously single out some as the ob- 
jects of favour, and cast off the rest as devoted to po- 
verty and wretchedness? Surely parental affertion in 
God, and that which his own hand hath ingrafted in 
the heart of man, cannot differ so widely. Consider 
him as a wise and impartial legislator, who, for the 
honour of his government and the happiness of his 
subjects, has enforced the observance of his laws by 
suitable sanctions — can it be believed that he would 
subvert every fundamental rule of rectitude, by se- 
lecting the most innocent and excellent of all charac- 
ters as an object of the most rigorous punishment for 
the offences of the guilty, and acquit them on account, 
or by the imputation of the obedience of the guiltless? 
What code of human laws was ever constructed on 
such a plan ? Or what human authority which should 
dare to plead such a precedent for its proceedings, 
would not have the universal voice of the civilized 
w^orld raised against it, as having abandoned the 
most obvious and acknowledged principles of jiistice. 
Or if we suppose that what ims been called justice, 
but more properly vengeance, has been satisfied to 
the very last mite of its demands by the sufferings of 
a substitute, what becomes of tlie god-like attribute 
of pardoning merctj, which every well-framed consti- 
tution vests in the hands (jf the Supreme Magistrate, 
to be exercised whenever there appears any thing in - 
the circumstances or disposition of the offender to 
make it expedient? Now that tlie Almighty should 



God is Light. 



37 



as Creator, Father, Lawgiver, or Governor, act 
upon such maxims as must necessarily render him 
th«^ object of servile dread, and yet that it should be 
his first and great commandment that we love him 
with all the heart and soul and strength and mind, 
are things as utterly opposed to each otiier in our 
unprejudiced judgment, as the lustre of noon and the 
shadows of mirlnight are in our ey^s. And if tlie 
Avord of God authorises us, as most certainly it does, 
to determine upon such differences according to our 
implanted sense of right and wrong, of good and evil, 
it follows that with respect to these matters there 
must have been some unliappy mistakes, which, for 
the honour of God and his law, and the comfort of 
many worthy and pious Christians, we cannot but 
wish to see rectified. And to this end we surely need 
do little more, after such an inqnfry, than to ask our- 
selves whether it be possible that sentiments in which 
tiiere is such a prevailing mixture of gloom, of mys- 
tery, of that which must tend to entangle, to depress, 
and discourage the timid, but sincere and upright 
mind, can be compatible with that still clearer light 
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of 
Jesus Christ which Paul declares had shone into his 
heart? And if we only cast back our view to the 
manner in which our blessed Lord discharged his 
commission, we shall find it perfectly becoming the 
representative of liim whose tender mercies are over 
all his works, and who is no respecter of persons, for 
upon whom doth not his light arise and his rain de- 
scend ? When did he confine tht se rich blessings, 
with the communication of which he was intrusted, 
to a favoured few ? Or turn away from any, as doom- 
ed to perish, who implored his aid? When did he 

D 



3S God is Light. 

cast out any who were divsposed to come unto him ? 
His offers and invitations were without limitati(m or 
exception ; and how tenderly and pathetically did he j 
lament the impenitence and obstinacy of those who i 
refused to hearken to them ! It was in the hearin|? of 
all the publicans and sinners t4iat he displayed the 
abundant compassiims of the Father of mercies in the 
parable of the repenting and returning prodigal. 
And if he represented him as a creditor, it was not t 
as one who seized upon the miserable insolvent with 
that harsh demand — Pay me that thou owest" — 
but, whether the debt were greater or smaller, when 
there was not wherewith to pay, he frankly forgave 
all.'' Be ye merciful/' said he, as your Father 
in heaven is merciful" — forgive us our debts as we 
forgive our debtors/' Such was the strain of his 
preaching who canie to be the light of the world. 
And do we not here, my friends, behold, with open 
face, the glory of God as manifested in the gift of his 
Son ? Does it not w^arm and fill our hearts with gra- 
titude, hope, consolation, joy, and every pleasing af- 
fection ? Is it not indeed a lamp unto our feet and a 
light unto our path ? 

One thing, however, it may not be amiss to no- 
tice, and which, upon a slight view, might appear to 
hv inconsistent with the position that <«in God there 
is no darkness at all." He is sometimes represented 
as actuated by passions of the angry kind, and such, 
in terms at least, as %ve are forbidden to indulge. 
But it is easy to see that in their nature they are 
widely difP rent. In what is called the "wrath of 
God" there is notlung (as frequently in that of man) 
of malice, Imtred, and revenge — its effects are only 
what, as a wise and just Governor^ he has annexed 



God is Light. 



39 



to the wilful violation of his laws, and is therefore 
entirely consistent vvitli perfect benevolence. ^< With 
him is forgiveness that he may be fea^'ed.'^ To the 
sinner, the hand of mercy is ever extended, intreat- 
ing him to be reconciled to God, To the pure and 
contrite heart he looks with favour, expecting no 
other sacrifice—no other offering to render him pro- 
pitious* The careless, the obstinate, and the impe- 
nitent, must abide tlie consequences of their own mis- 
conduct — they have only themselves to blame. 

Let us then, my friends, if we would enjoy the ad- 
vantai^es and pleasures of Christianity in all their 
excelh^nce and sweetness, entertain high, honourable 
xind consistent tlioughts of God. Let us beware of 
disparaging the character of the greatest and best of 
beings, with whom evil or imperfection cannot dwell, 
by the admission of any thing which, in ourselves or 
others, we should view with pain or disapprobation. 
It is lawful — it is laudable, to aspire after a resem- 
blance to our Maker — to an imitation of his unspot- 
ted rectitude — to be possessed of that righteousness 
which the righteous Lord ioveth ; and of which, as a 
God of truth, he cannot accept the imputation instead 
of the reality; and to look around us with an uncon- 
fined benevolence, such as he extendeth to every 
thing that his hand hath made ; yea, as children of 
the Most High, to be kind even to the unthankful 
and the evil. God, in his nature and perfections, is 
light, without the slightest tincture of obscurity. In 
the escercise of those perfections he is consummate 
love. When we walk in love, we are his followers 
as dear children. When we love our brother, we 
abide in the light,'^ aad there is noae occasion of 
stumbling in us." 



40 



God is Light. 



Happy is our lot, fellow Christians, that we live 
In times when so much of gospel light and liberty 
prevails, as to afford the blissful prospect of their 
shining more and more unto the perfect day — that it 
is in retrospect only, we behold darkness covering 
tlie earth, and gross darkness the people/^ When wc 
reflect what was the state of the heathen world be- 
fore the coming of Christ, as to idolatry, supersti- 
tion, cruelty, lust, intemperance, and such like vices, 
even of those nations most removed from barbarism, 
and thiC savage and uncivilised condition of tlie rest, 
we may be convinced that nothing less than almighty 
interposition could liave rescued it from the grasp of 
the power of darkness. Alas! in what deeper shades 
of horror must it not now have been involved, had 
not that interposition been afforded! Yet might the 
mx\ of righteousness, which had arisen with healing 
in his wings, have been lost in total obscurity, but 
that tlie gloom was in part dispersed by the stormy 
times of the Reformation. It w as not, however, to be 
expected that a work, commenced in such circum- 
stances, and under such auspices, could be all at once 
carried to perfection ; and we perceive, but too plain- 
ly, the prevalence of such opinions and dispositions 
among Christians, as will not warrant the belief that 
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Je- 
sus Christ hath as yet shone into their hearts in its 
full and genuine lustre. With as much reason, how- 
ever, might we apprehend that the morning light 
should become fainter and fainter instead of bright- 
ening towards meridian glory, as that the counsels 
of almighty power, infinite love, unchanging truth, 
and everlasting mercy, after having begun to ope- 
rate, shall fail of accomplishing all their purposes* 



God is Light. 



I cannot conclude this subject more properly than 
in the words of that divine prophet, who rejoiced to 
see, in spirit, the things which we see, and those 
which are yet to come to pass — ^* The Lord shall 
arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee 
—thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters 
shall be nursed at thy side — the abundance of the 
sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the 
Gentiles shall come unto thee — I will make the place 
of my feet glorious^ — The sun shall be no more thy 
light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon 
give light unto thee, hut the Lord shall be unto thee 
an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory- — -A little 
one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong 
nation— I the Lord will hasten it in his time.^^ — 
Amen ! So wait we, in faith and hope, for thy salva- 
tion, 0 Lord ! 



D 2 



SERMON IIL 



THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE ACKNOWLEDGED IN THE 
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE CIRCUMSTANCES OF 
LIFE. 



PELITERED Slst DECEMBER, 1809. 

2 CoE. i. 9, 10. 

That -we should not trust in ourselves, but in God xvho raiseth the 
dead; who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver ; 
in whom we trust that he will yet deliver. 

What an astonishing instance of the changes of 
disposition and situation, to which mortal man is lia- 
ble, does the history of the writer of these words af- 
ford! In the earlier part of his life he had been a 
student of the law under one of the most celebrated 
of its professors. He stood high in the confidence of 
the great men of his nation. He ranked among those 
who were possessed, in the estimation of the multi- 
tude, of a superior degree of sanctity, and whose in- 
fluence over them was most extensive; and the zeal 
he discovered against the tenets which were most ob- 
noxious to his sect, together with his natural talents, 
might have elevated him to the highest dignity in 
their power to confer. The occasion of that total 
and wonderful alteration which took place in his cha- 
racter and pursuits, is too well known to all who 



44? Divine Providence acknowledged. 



hear me, to make it necessary to relate the circum- 
stances of it in detail. Its consequences, however, 
call for our particular attention. Having counted 
those things which were gain to him, loss for Christ, 
he tells the Corinthians (1st, iv. 11.) « Even to this 
present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are 
naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwell- 
ing place; we are the offscouring of all things unto 
this day.'' And (2(1, xi. 23.) In labours 1 am more 
abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more 
frequent — in deaths often, (v. 26.) in journeyings 
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in pe- 
rils by my own countrymen, in perils in the city, in 
perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in pe- 
rils among false brethren, in weariness and painful- 
ness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
fastings often, in cold and nakedness.'' Nay (2 Cor. 
i. 8.) sometimes he was even pressed out of mea- 
sure, above strength, despairing of life, and had the 
sentence of death in himself." Here is an accumu- 
lation of woes — a load of distresses, under which one 
would think it scarcely possible for the human mind 
or body to bear up. But do we find him uttering the 
language of despondency, or sinking under the bur- 
den ? By no means. — To others indeed he might ap- 
pear to be sorrowful, poor, destitute, dying; yet in 
reality he was always rejoicing — rich, having where- 
with to make many so ; although troubled on every 
side, yet not distressed ; perplexed, but not in de- 
spair ; persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down, but 
not utterly destroyed. Yes ! there was a principle of 
inward support, which rendered him not merely 
equal, but superior to all. So thoroughly was he 
convinced of the truth, and persuaded of the impor- 



Divine Providence acknowledged. 43 

tanre of the work he had undertakt^n, that to have 
declined it would iiave been, in his estimation, to in- 
cur a sorer wo than any or all others beside ; and, 
so that it were carried on with success, it was indif- 
ferent to him whether it were tio his honour or dis- 
lionour, by evil or good report, by his being account- 
ed a deceiver or a preacher of truth. In every cha- 
racter, whether imputed or real — whatever the world 
thought of him, still he had the testimony of his con- 
science in his favour. But the grand source from 
which he drew the most effectual consolation, and to 
which all others were ultimately referable, was a 
firm trust in the superintendence of the divine Pro- 
vidence, and the animating hope of a resurrection. 
<<We trust in God who raiseth the dead — who did 
deliver, who doth deliver, and in whom we trust also 
that he will yet deliver.'^ « From him having ob- 
tained help (says this glorious confessor in the cause 
of truth, when standing before rulers and kings,) I 
continue unto this day/* 

That the Deity is intimately acquainted with, and 
exercises a constant inspection over all the works of 
his hands, is a principle, the certainty of which, like 
that of his eternal existence, we are constrained to 
admit, although we know not the manner of its ope- 
ration. Unless we can prove that the beautiful and 
regular series of causes and effects, which is constant- 
ly exhibited in the course of nature, springs from 
blind fate or promiscuous chance (which it were ab- 
surd to say are the causes of any thing) we must as- 
cribe them to infinite power under the direction of 
infinite wisdom. Nothing can be more evident than 
that pow er and wisdom did not stop at the mere point 
of creation, nor than that they are continually and 



46 Divine Providence acknowledged. 

actively employed in the support and preservation of 
what was thus at first formed and set in motion. 
Now, upon the very face of the matter, it would seem 
to be absurd and presumptuous in us to say — Thus 
far the divine superintendence extends — but all be- 
yond that line is left entirely to the effect of fortui- 
tous incident, nor has the Deity any thing to do with 
it, or is merely an indifferent spectator. But the 
great difficulty is, to reconcile the belief of a super- 
intending Providence with the existence of natural 
and moral evil, and with the freedom of human ac- 
tions; and so insurmountable did it appear to many 
of the ancient heathen philosophers, that they main- 
tained that the gods did not interrupt the happiness 
they enjoyed in the upper regions, by concerning 
themsch es with what passed in the worhl below. But 
neither sound reason nor divine revelation will au- 
thorise the belief of any such absurdities; and how- 
ever incapable we may be of solving every hard pro-^ 
blem which the apparently confused state of things 
in this world presents, it is impossible, upon any con- 
sistent and satisfactory grounds, to disbelieve the 
cognisance of an omnipresent, all-intelligent Spirit, 
or that directive impidse which is given to the ac- 
tions and affairs of mankind, so as to answer the 
great intentions of Him who worketh all things 
after the counsels of his own will/' In the fine lan- 
guage of Mr. Addison, 

The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, 
<^ Puzzled in mazes, and perplexed with errors j 
" Our understanding traces them in vain, 

Lost and bewildered in the fruitless search ; 



Divine Vvovidence acknowledged. 47 



Nor sees with how much art the windings run. 
Nor where the regular confusion ends." 

In effect, if we were to discard the belief of this most 
important truth, we should lf»se our principal, our 
onlv support under those calamities and misfortunes 
whirli we feel it utterly out of our power to foresee 
or prevent. It would be, with a <lesperate hand, to 
cut away the only anchor of our hope, and to aban- 
don our frail bark to the boisterous winds and the 
raging billows — it would be a conduct equally unwor- 
thy our character, as rational beings, or as Chris- 
tians. 

We are now arrived on the borders of one of those 
seasons in which it has been usual (and sorry I am 
to observe, that a custom so useful and becoming 
seems to be losing ground among us,) to make a se- 
rious pause, and to devote a portion of it to suitable 
religious exercises. Many hours of the past year 
have perhaps been idly and unprofitably, if not still 
more blameably spent. A few yet remain, before it 
is irrecoverably ingulfed in the ocean of past eterni- 
ty — Let us then employ a part of them, according to 
the distribution suggested by the words of my text, 
in refleciing on the "past — considering the present — • 
and contemplating ihid future 9 with an especial refe- 
rence to the all-governing providence of God. 

So helpless is the condition of man when first he 
opens his eyes upon the light of this worlds — so nu- 
merous and various are the ar( idv nts and diseases by 
which the slender thread of life may be snapped asun- 
der, and which the instinctive solicitude and care of 
pisrents can only tend to prevent, buf from which 
they cannot elfectually secure him, that instead of 



48 Divine Providence acknowledged. 



surprise at the greatness of the number which perisli 
at that early period, it may well excite our astonish- 
ment that so many survive. Whi( h of us has not 
often been told, by a fond mother, of her anxieties 
and alarms, her alternate hopes and fears, while 
watching the progress of disease or the symptoms of 
recovery. How many of us can recollect hair-breadth 
escapes from the jaws of death during tlie heedless 
days of cliildhood and youth! escapes which we can- 
not justly ascribe to any thing but the interposition 
of an invisible hand. Since our entrance upon the 
active and busy scenes of life, although we cannot 
accompany the Apostle with our o\yu experience 
through the long detail of his sufferings, many of us 
may, like him, have been in deaths often, in journey- 
ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, 
in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in 
p< rils in the sea. In these last, several of us who 
have left our native land, can in particular join issue 
with Paul. We can, doubtless, remember moments 
when death seemed to ride on every wave, and de- 
struction to howl in every blast- — when the last re- 
mains of hope were ready to expire, and when the 
mercy of the Omnipotent, tlien perhaps invoked by 
lips which had seldom uttered his name but to im- 
precate his vengeance, appeared as the only refuge 
from absolute despair. Yet he who rebuketh the 
winds and the raging of the water, who maketh the 
storm a calm, hath dissipated our fears, and at length 
brought us to our desired haven. 

Nor less hath his preserving care been exercised 
over us in our removes from place to place by land. 
Wliether our abode be in the city or the country, so 
many thousands of times do we go out and return in 



Divine Providence acknowledged. 49 

safety, that we are too apt to overlook the hand that 
guides and guards us. It is tlierefore right — it is ne- 
cessary, that we sliould be sometimes reminded of 
our obligations by painful experience. We may leave 
our habitations in full health, spirits and activity, 
and be brought back with a fractured or dislocated 
limb. There may be but a moment between perfect 
bodily vigour and tedious confinement or long pro- 
tracted decrepitude, if even life itself escape imme- 
diate or consequent extinction, for in numberless in- 
stances it is literally true that there is but a step 
between us and death. ""^ When we consider how 
many circumstances, apparently the most trifling and 
altogether unapprehended, may occasion the most se- 
rious calamities, their comparative infrequency ought 
to excite in us the most lively sense of, and the most 
devout gratitude for, the preserving care of our di- 
vine benefactor, and to forbid all murmuring and 
complaint when they are suffered to befal us. 

When we feel ourselves happy in the enjoyment of 
health, we are very apt to mention it with an ex- 
pression of thanks to God; and if it be done with 
due sensibility and seriousness, nothing can be more 
proper, for in no respect is our dependence upon him 
more absolute and entire. We have it much more in 
our own power to destroy our health, than either to 
preserve or to recover it. Mortality is so universal 
and inevitable — death enters our frame by such innu- 
merable avenues, and its approaches are sometimes 
so gradual and imperceptible, that our doom is seal- 

* This and some similar sentiments were suggested by an ac. 
cident xvhich the author met with in the course of this ve^^r, and 
under the effects of which he still does and must coatinue to 
labour. 

E 



00 jSivine Providence acknowledged. 



ed before we are aware of our danger, and nothing 
is left us but resignation to the divine will. This 
ought to convince us that we are equally in the hands 
of God when our day of health is at the brightest, 
and that if our mountain hath hitherto stood strong, 
it is through his favour alone. Here then is ample 
room for grateful recollertion — But how much more 
if we have been recalled, as it were, from the gates 
ef the grave, and if the sentence of dissolution, which 
we had received within ourselves, has been respited! 
Every one who has been in this situation must be 
convinced, that the manner in which medicine ope- 
rates is so little known, that the art so often fails in 
the hands of its most skilful professors, and that its 
success is at best so uncertain, that recovery ought 
to be traced to an higher cause — even to that al- 
mighty Physician, who having wounded can heal, 
and in whose hands are the issues of life and death. 
— ^Farth<?r,t 

Have we been successful, or otherwise, in our se« 
cular aflFairs and plans of business? We must have 
had but small experience if we have not perceived 
that it is but little we can do, to insure success, 
or prevent disappointment. Both the one and the 
other depend upon such combinations of circum- 
stances, and such a complicated chain of events, as 
the keenest sagacity and the longest experience can- 
not always take advantage of, or be guarded against. 
But here perhaps, more than in many other cases, 
has the hand of Providence been disregarded. If dis- 
appointment has ensued, we have been too ready to 
charge it to the account of our ill fortune — if other- 
wise, to say, Mine hand halh gotten me this wealth'' 
— to sacrifice to our own net and burn incense to our 



Divine Providence acknowledged. 51 



©wn drag. My brethren, these things ought not 
so to be." It is not more true that our breath is in 
the hand of God, than that his are all our ways, and 
that bim it is our duty to glorify in all. Alas! can 
any of us truly say, upon an impartial review, that 
this has been the case, in the manner it might, and 
the proportion it ought ? To those, however, who are 
not chargeable with total neglect in this particular, 
and more especially to the experience of my elder 
friends, I may safely appeal, whether what has at 
first worn the appearance of loss and disappoint- 
ment, has not frequently issued in the real advantage 
and improvement of their temporal concerns. When 
one p!an, upon which much was thought to depend, 
lias faiien througli, we have been under the necessity 
of turning our attention a different way, which has 
led to consequences more satisfactory than even suc- 
cess upon the former scheme could possibly have pro- 
duced. Here, the hand of Providence has been (I 
had almost said) visible; and cold indeed must be 
that bosom which, in such a case, feels no grateful 
emotions, but ascribes all to fortune^ or according to 
the common phrase good luck/' Such language is 
very unbecoming the lips of a Christian. It better 
suits those who are too wise in their generation to 
give to God any share in their thoughts, or if they 
do, it is only to ask, Who is the Almighty that we 
should serve him? or wliat profit shall we have if we 
pray unto him?'' It is indeed, sometimes, permitted 
to such to prosper in the world, and to increase in 
riches. But where among the number shall we find 
one who can honestly say lhat the attainment of his 
object is really worth all the toil, and pains, and 
an.^iety it has cost him, together with the frequent 



52 Divine Providence acknowledged. 



roproarhes of his conscience, if he has turned aside 
fnm the straight path of integrity in the eager pur- 
suit of it? But if disappointment, or indeed that ruin 
\\hich is the frequent cotisequence of unwarrantable 
risks, should hapisen, then let him seek for consola- 
tion where he can, let him cry unto the gods he has 
chosen, and see if they can deliver him in the time 
of trouble. No — it is he only, whom Paul acknow- 
ledged to have been his deliverer, who forsakes not 
his faithful servants in their utmost need, but is ever 
at hand with his gracious, his effectual consolations. 
Of them I w ould ask — have not afflictions and trials 
of every kind, under his merciful direction, proved 
substantial blessings? Have not your wills been 
theieby subdued into an humble acquiescence with 
that divine Mill which you have seen it was in vain 
to oppose? Have they not taught you the instability 
of the best earthly enjoyments, and led you to fix 
your hopes on something more valuable and lasting? 
Have tliey not endeared to you the gospel and its 
promises, and led you to take them as your heritage 
for ever? If these have been the effects of affliction, 
bless your Father's hand wiiich hath given the stroke, 
and thankfully acknowledge the supports he hath af- 
forded you under it. Yet more than this — place all 
your mercies of every kind in one scale, and your 
afflictions in the other, and deny, if you can, that 
goodness and loving kindness have followed you all 
your days, and every single successive day of your 
life. I call upon you my friends, I call upon myself, 
after the brief and cursory retrospect now taken, and 
as the last solemn religious act of the kind we shall 
have it in our power to perform while the present 
year continues^ to say, whether the afflictions we 



Divine Providence acknowledged. 53 



have endured be not as a drop in the orean, compared 
with our enjoyments, even if it were just to re kon 
the former among real evils. These, 1 believe, if we 
were to set ourselves to count them up, might be 
enumerated in a few words — but where should we be- 
gin the catalogue of the tender mercies and compas- 
sions of our God ? To do justice to such an under- 
taking, we ought to take into the account every 
breath we have drawn*— »every pulsation that has pro- 
pelled the vital fluid through our veins— every mo- 
tion our limbs have made — every morsel or drop of 
refreshment we have taken ; — but, when we can num- 
ber the stars of heaven, or the particles of sand on 
the shore, then might we hope to bring the sum to 
its total. 

Calling back our thoughts from the past, let us 
now fix them for a while on the j^me^z^; and let the 
situation of our country claim our first regards. 
When we compare it with that of some others, how 
applicable do we find that clause of our text, ^< He 
that hath delivered, doth deliver'' — "He maketh 
peace in our borders''— <^ Our shores have peace, our 
cities rest." Our houses are undemolished, our pub^ 
He edifices unconsumed. We have not been stunned 
with the tremendous roar of artillery, nor terrified 
with the explosion of the bursting bomb.^ We have 
not been compelled to flee from destruction, or to stay 
to witness the indiscriminate slaughter of both sexes, 
and of every age, from the infant in the arms of its 
distracted mother, to the infirm and bending under 
the weight of years. We are apt to peruse narra- 

* Alluding to the bombardment of Flushing by the British 
forces this year. 

E 2 



54i Divine Providence acknowledged. 

tives of this kind with too much indifference, when 
we are at a distance from the shocking scene, and 
with too little thankfulness for preservation from 
such dire calamities, and such as this yeai has ac- 
tually witnessed, which is the more inexcusable, con- 
sidering the critical state of our public affairs for a 
long time past. Not less highly favoured have we 
been in this city in particular, with respect to health, 
and an exemption, notwithstanding some grounds of 
serious alarm, from those awful visitations which are 
too recent to be forgotten by the greater part of us. 
It may be, however, that when we look nearer home, 
some of us are experiencing those distressing priva- 
tions which the common lot of humanity awards to 
lis all. We may have lost the tender, the faithful as- 
sociate, dear to us as our own souls, the revered pa- 
rent, the nurse of our infancy, the guide and guar- 
dian of our youth — the child in w horn we had trea- 
sured up hopes of happiness for years to come. But 
can we look around us and say with truth, that we are 
destitute ov forsaken? Is there not one sympatiiising 
friend, one kind relation, ready to supply, as far as in 
their power, the place of those whose loss we mourn? 
Never — O never did the God of mercy send upon any 
of his rational offspring unmitigated sorrow, unalle- 
Tiated and irremediable distress ! Feel the stroke, of 
whatever kind it be, as nature bids ; but consider, 
when one item is subtracted from the sum of your 
comforts, how large is the remainder. What if no- 
thing more were left you than you can claim on the 
score of merit? We are too apt to call those things 
our own to which we have not in reality the smallest 
title. When we are called to part with them, there 
is only one kind of language which befits us~« The 



Bivina Providence acknowledged. 55 



Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, and bleSvS- 
ed be the name of the Lord.'^ Perhaps you find 
yourself, in consequence of accident or disease, 
abridged of many of your former enjoyments~.una- 
ble to engage in your usual avocations — What then ? 
have you any right to complain because the Almigh- 
ty did not suspend the laws of nature, or work a mi- 
racle, on i/oi*r account ? We should accustom our- 
selves to take enlarged and comprehensive views of 
the divine government, and to beware of annexing 
an unreasonable degree of importance to our own 
comparatively trifling concerns. Does any little pain 
or inconvenience we happen to feel, lessen the gene- 
ral sum of happiness? Shall the thing formed say 
to him that formed it — why hast thou made me 
thus When we are tempted to think that God hath 
forgotten us, we should check ourselves as David did 
with— This is my infirmity,'^ his goodness is unal- 
terably the same. Besides, in the case alluded to, 
it may be that you are not entirely laid aside, and 
that some degree of usefulness is yet continued to 
you. Whatever species or branch of duty you are 
capable of discharging, do it with cheerfulness and 
thankfulness, and no more will be required of you 
than you are able to perform. Nay, though you be 
totally disqualified for active^ still passive duty is 
within your power J in patience you may possess 
your soul, and give an edifying example of subttiis- 
sion to the divine will. Again — If your affairs be 
not in so easy and prosperous a condition as you 
may naturally and lawfully desire, there is no cajise 
for despondency. If such be the effect of that muta- 
bility which attaches to all human things, you may 
even from thence derive hope — if the laws of the di- 



S6 Divine Providence acknowledged. 

vine government do not admit of a settled and unal- 
terable state of affairs, you may reasonably expect 
that, among the changes that will inevitably take 
place, something may turn out to your advantage^ of 
which you have at present no prospect. Abave all 
things, however, resort not to unwarrantable me- 
thods of amending your condition— better is actual 
poverty and distress, if so it must be, with a peace- 
ful conscience, than gain unrighteously acquired. 
Wait therefore with calmness till the hand of Provi- 
dence points out your course^ or wisely fall in with 
that gracious provision which the Author of our na- 
ture hath made for our happiness* and which I have 
often contemplated with equal wonder and gratitude, 
whereby the mind is enabled to accommodate itself 
to, and even to be comfortable in circumstances, 
which, viewed from a distance, seemed to forbode 
nothing but distress and misery. Our great apos- 
tle was an illustrious example of this. 1 have 
learned,'* says he to the Philippians, in whatever 
state I am, therewith to be content. I know both 
how to be abased, and I know how to abound ; every 
where and in all things I am instructed, both to be 
full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer 
need.'* But if we only know what it is to be full and 
to abound — if our affairs wear the aspect of prospe- 
rity — 'if our health be uninterrupted and our consti- 
tution unbroken — if we are happy in the society of 
friends — of near and dear relations — if the labours of 
our hands are meeting with reasonable success, and 
every moderate want and wish be satisfied ; shall we 
not give way to the pleasing impulse of gratitude ? 
Shall we prefer an absurd and unmeaning ascriptioi> 
©f the blessings, with which we are so abundantly 



.Divine Providence acknowledged. 57 



surrounded, to our good fortune^ rather tlian lift up 
our hearts in devout aspirations to him, whose al- 
nii.2;hty hand alone delivers our soids from death, 
keeps floods of sorrow from overflowing our eyes, 
and preserves our feet from falling? Can we be so 
lost to every noble, every ingenuous feeling ? Can 
we cease to be astonished at the insensibility of man- 
kind, which makes the very number, the magnitude, 
the constancy of the divine benefits, the cause of their 
being disregarded and forgotten ? 

Let us now cast a look towards the future. 

I just now took notice of that wise and benevolent 
provision in the constitution of man, which enables 
him to adapt his mind to an alteration in his condi- 
tion. No less conspicuous is the kindness and mercy 
of his Creator, in keeping him ignorant of what is 
hereafter to befal him. The least reflection may con- 
vince us what confusion and misery would ensue, If 
this order of things were changed ; and how unwise 
he would be, who, if he had it in his power, would 
exchange the pleasures of hope for the faculty of 
prescience. Yet has there been in all ages of the 
world, a propensity to draw aside, with a profane 
hand, the veil which conceals from our view what is 
to happen hereafter. The ancient heathens had their 
augurs, aruspices, and oracles — the Jews, those who 
pretended to deal with familiar spirits ; — we read, in 
the history of the Acts, of two men of bad character, 
who led the multitude astray by affecting to possess 
extraordinary powers, and that the people of Philip- 
pi were so absurd as to take the ravings of an in- 
sane girl for prophetic inspirations. To every thing 
of this kind, the Christian doctrine and spirit is ut- 
terly opposed. It condemns an excess of anxiety 



^8 Bivine Providence acknowledged. 



even abo^it those tilings which are legitimate objects 
of care and forethought, and directs us to place our 
confidence in that Ge»d, who, as it is most evident 
that he does not neglect the meanest of his works, 
cannot justly he supposed to disregard the affairs, or 
be indifferent to the welfare, of his rational offspring. 
Nothing can be more express or encouraging than 
the declarations of oiir Saviour to this effect: « Are 
not two sparrows sohl for a farthing? and one of 
them shall not fall to the ground without your fa- 
ther. Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value 
than many sparrows/' The truth of this doctrine— 
the certainty of this intei'position, strikes the nund 
so fon ibly that we at once admit, without requiring 
the formal proof of it. Nor is it at all inconsistent 
with the exercise of our own prudence and discre- 
tion, nor does it forbid that small degree of insight 
into the future, which we may obtain by reasoning 
on the past and the present, or reaping the benefit of 
our own or others' experience. We may avail our- 
selves of every advantage these are capable of afford- 
ing, and yet be feelingly convinced that all issues 
and events are in the hands of God. We may, with 
modesty and caution, judge of the future dealings of 
Providence by those through wiiich we have already 
passed, and draw a favourable and encouraging con- 
clusion. We have even liberty to pray for the things 
we want, and to spread our reasonable desires be- 
fore our heavenly Father; but w^e have no right to 
come to him with peremptory demands, or importu- 
nate requests — in these we may, and ought, to be 
disappointed. There is only one petition, which, the 
more earnestly we prefer, the more sure we are of 
obtaining it~and that is, for resignation to the di- 



Divine Providence acJcnowledged. 59 



vine will. When therefore we pray for the preven- 
tion or removal of any affliction, our language ought 
to be, Father ! if it be possible — yet not as 1 will 
but as thou wilt.'* If for the bestowment of any 
blessing— Father! if thou knowest it to be really 
g'i(}d for me — yet not as I will but as thou wilt/' In 
all oiir other requests let us be very careful, before 
we bring them before the divine Majesty, that they 
be not contradictory to the perfections of his nature, 
nor to his declared will, as far as we are acquainted 
with it, nor such as we may not use every lawful ef- 
fort in our own power to obtain ; and then w^e may, 
with tranquillity and cheerfulness, await his good 
pleasure, and, whatever it appears to be, acquiesce 
in it; for, in the event, it may happen, that what we 
most desired would have proved hurtful, or what w^e 
most dreaded and deprecated, beneficial. 

But these are matters in which it is to be feared 
the generality of mankind take but little interest. Of 
old there have been those who have the harp and 
the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, in their 
feasts, but who regard not the work of the Lord, 
neither consider the operation of his hands and 
others, who seek, with eager and anxious solicitude, 
« what they shall eat, and what they shall drink, and 
wherewithal they shall be clothed," as if the whole of 
their existence depended upon themselves. Is this 
wisdom, or is it folly ? Could it ever be ascertained, 
upon any grounds either of reason or experiment, 
that this world was intended for the final happiness 
of man? No surely. And they who believe in the ex- 
istence and benevolence of the Creator, will con- 
clude, that if it had been so, it would have been con- 
stituted far differently from what it is. Make a true 



60 Divine Providence acknowledged. 



estimate of human life, and how does it appear? — ^ 
Even as a vapour that appeareth for a little time 
and soon vanisheth away." Look back upon a space 
of ten, twenty, or thirty years — it is gone, you can 
scarcely tell how ; and ten, twenty, or thirty years 
to come, if you should live so long, will flit away just 
as fast, and still leave you looking farther for some- 
thing to make you lastingly happy. Proceed as far 
as we Viill in the journey of life, and enjoy as much 
as we can of its good things, the index of permanent 
happiness still points to futurity — still keeps us in a 
state of expectation. Neither would it (I believe) be 
possible to find the man, who, with a perfect recol- 
lection of the events of his past life, would be content 
to pass through them a second time. Miserable then 
are they, wlio, in clear contradiction to tlie constitu- 
tion of things unalterably established by the Author 
of our nature, take up their portion in this life. In 
vain may they persuade themselves that they have 
much goods laid up for many years, and say to their 
souls, Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry," 
^— .tlieir utmost efforts cannot always exclude reflec- 
tion; and the thoughts of death will sometimes cause 
the hand to tremble, even in the act of raising the 
cup of sensuality to the lips. Let not then the sons 
of folly, of riot and intemperance, dare to compare 
their low and perishing gratifications with those of 
the Christian. He only has the true enjoyment of 
life, who has no reason to be afraid of death. He 
only can extract all that is of real value out of the 
things of this world, who receives them at the hand 
of God, as earnests of something infinitely better yet 
to come, and who, instead of fixing his affections in- 
ordinately upon them, leaves it to his good pleasure 



Divine Providence ttcJcnowledged. 61 

either to continue or resume them. What if he were 
calh <] to resign them all, and to endure the worst of 
temporal evils without any prospect of escape, still 
he trusts in the sure word of promise of that God 
who raiseth the dead — of him who raised up Jesus, 
and gave him glory, that the faith and hope of those 
who believe in him might rest upon a sure and unde- 
ceiving foundation. Take, my brethren, for an ex- 
ample not only of suffering affliction and of patience, 
but of triumphant hope, the man who wrote the 
words of our text. After all his escapes and deli- 
verances, a period arrived when he found himself 
obliged to say, « I am now ready to be offered, and 
the time of my departure is at handj'' and he accord- 
ingly yielded up his life for the testimony of Jesus. 
Does he, in this prospect, repine at his past suffer- 
ings, or think all his labour lost? No! I have 
fought^'' says he, <^ a good fight, I have finished my 
course, I have kept the faith," henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.'^ 
Armed with the like mind, animated by a portion of 
the same spirit, let us, my friends, address ourselves 
to meet the events of the coming year. While, like 
Paul, we draw^ from past mercies and deliverances, 
the pleasing and enlivening inference of future sup- 
port, let us hold ourselves in a constant posture of 
preparation for whatever may happen. Never in any 
circumstances let us part with our full persuasion of, 
and dependance upon, the divine goodness, assured 
that if we are tempted to distrust it, we ought to look 
for the cause in some wrong conduct of our own. 
Let us fulfil, to the utmost of our ability, the duties 
of the stations in which Providence hath placed us ; 

F 



63 Divine Providence acknowledged. 



convinced that while our Father has any work for 
lis to do, he will enable us to discharge it ; and that 
when we are dismissed from our post, it is because 
he has no farther occasion for our service. While 
the good things of life are continued to us, let us use 
them with gratitude, but not abuse them by excess j 
and, if they be taken from us, let us not deplore 
their loss as if all our hopes of happiness vanished 
together with them. Let us not think hardly of the 
discipline it may be necessary for us to undergo in 
order to reduce us to a disposition of entire acquies- 
cence in the divine will; and let us calmly wait our 
father's pleasure, either for the removal of affliction, 
OP our release from the troubles of a transitory world 
by our being called out of it. Let us not start back, 
with affright, at the thought of what it is impossible 
to avoid. Death, on a nearer view, may not wear 
so terrific an aspect as our imaginations have pic- 
tured. Although the sudden aj^ps ehension of danger 
operates instinctively upon us, and impresses us with 
the fear of the loss of life, a little reflection will con- 
vince us that our Creator has made many merciful 
provisions for lessening our natural dread of it upon 
its gradual approach. Probably, the moment of dis- 
solution itself may be little or nothing more than we 
Lave experienced when the vital functions have been 
suddenly arrested by a fit of fainting — possibly, even 
as easy and tranquil as when, after a toilsome jour- 
ney, we drop insensibly asleep, and on opening our 
eyes in the morning know not at what moment, or 
in what manner, or how long our slumbers have 
lasted. Yes! brethren— that important, that trium- 
pi^ant morning will dawn, when we shall shake off 
the slumbers of the tomb — when our now weak, 



Divine Providence acknowledged. 63 



])ained and corruptible bodies sball rise in the vigour 
of undccayiug health — -in the glow of unfading beau- 
ty — to the enlarged and unwearied functions of an 
immortal existence. - Let us then, as it were, spi ing 
forward to meet that glorious, blissful period ; and 
passing over with a comparatively careless and tran- 
sient glance, the lapse of years and every tiiing seen 
and temporal, let our fixed regards, our warmest af- 
fections, and most ardent pursuit, be engaged by 
those things which are unseen and which are eternaL 



SERMON IV. 



PROPHECIES OF THE MESSIAH FULFILLED IN JESUS 
OF NAZARETH. 



DELITEIIED ON CHKISTMAS DAY, 1815. 

Rom. i. v. 1 — 4. 

The Gospel of God -ivhich he had promised before by his prophets 
in the holy scriptures, concerning his $o?i Jesus Christ our Lord, 
which -was made of the seed of David according to the flesh ; and 
declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit 
of holhiess — [or, the holy Spirit.] 

When we take an extensive retrospect of the af- 
fairs of this world of ours, and compare the actual 
moral condition of its inhabitants with wliat it might 
have been but for their departure from the original 
purity and rectitude of their nature — when we see, 
on such a review, the evident tokens of an increasing 
degeneracy, and of a tendency to absolute ruin and 
destruction — I say, when we consider these tlnngs 
on the one hand, and on the other, tlie iniflnite power^ 
wisdom, and goodness of the Supreme Being, and 
particularly his tejider compassions^ so directly im- 
plied in his character of the Father of men, it must 
seem highly reasonable to expect that he would, in 
some way or other, and at a proper season, inter- 
pose for their deliverance. And as the fact is unde- 

F 2 



66 Projphecies of the Messiah 



niable, that even when appearances were darkest and 
most discouraging, there was never wanting a covert 
for the holy seed^ to preserve it from perishing— a 
remnant w ho should be accounted unto the Lord 
for a generation/^ it is a supposition equally reason- 
able, that provision would be made for sustaining 
their faith and hope in the approach of brighter and 
better times. This was accordingly effected by means 
of Pjrophecy— a divine impression upon, and com- 
munication to the minds of holy men, whereby they 
were assured, that in the fulness of time, such and 
such happy changes should take place; in which as- 
surances they rejoiced, and looked forward with ar- 
dent desire, and firm confidence, to their accomplish- 
ment. It was, at the same time, expressly intimated 
and clearly understood, that the method whereby this 
most glorious and highly improved state of things 
should be introduced, was the appearance of a per« 
son, distinguished, far beyond all who had preceded 
him, by the attributes of a messenger from God, in 
whom to believe, and whom to obey, should be pro- 
ductive of the happiest consequences, both public and 
personal. That expectation might be kept morQ 
lively and active by being directed towards a certain 
point, it w^as declared tliat this person should be a 
descendant, in a direct line, of the family of David; 
and, as the event drew nearer, even the time when 
it should take place, w as, not obscurely, indicated. 
When <^ Jesijs of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,^^ 
came forth into the world, the marks of resemblance 
were so strong and striking, that no one, who was 
not under the influence of the most powerful and 
fatal prejudice, could doubt vvhether it were he of 
whom Mosc^ and the prophets did writef^ and the te- 



fulfilled in Jesus of Mi^aretL 67 



nor of his message appeared so directly calculated 
to produce those blessed coiisequences which had 
been foretold as following its promulgation, that it 
was hailed, by every sincere and believing heart, as 
the Gospel, that is, as the term signifies^ the glad 
tidings of salvation — deliverance from all the mise- 
rable consequences of an apostacy from God, both in 
the present, and in a future world. Comparatively 
slow, and apparently interrupted as the progress of 
this divine remedy for evil, both natural and morale 
has been, there is not a rational" being, exercising 
the free and unbiassed use of his understanding, who 
can doubt of its adequacy to the end proposed j or 
who, believing in the perfections and providence of 
the supreme Governor, can doubt of its final attain* 
ment. This is, consequently, a subject in which 
every individual of us is interested. And it will be 
a very proper, and I therefore trust, not unprofitable 
employment of our time on the present occasion, if 
we trace the correspondence of the facts recorded in 
the J\'*ew9 with the predictions contained in the Old 
Testament. ^« Search the scriptures,'^ said our Lord 
to the Jews, for in them ye think ye have eternal 
life; and they are they which testify of me.'' Thus 
were the ingenuous, the noble-minded Bereans en* 
gaged, who, when the transactions and doctrines re- 
lating to Christianity were laid before them, com- 
pared spiritual things with spiritual— searched the 
scriptures, whether those things were so.'' 

It would lead me into too wide a field if I were to 
attempt to bring into view all things which are writ- 
ten in the books of Moses, and in the prophets, and 
in the psalms^ concerning the Messiah, and which 



68 Prophecies of the Messiah 



were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus — my purpose will 
be sufficiently answered, 

1. By noticing some of the most remarkable cir- 
cumstances relating to the promise and its accom- 
plishment ; 

2. The principal features of correspondence in his 
character and actions with the prophetic descrip- 
tions; and 

3. By proposing wljatever may be yet uncom- 
pleted, as, for these reasons, the ground of a con- 
sistent faith, and a full reliance on the divine power 
and truth. 

I. — In the covenant which God made with Abra» 
ham, he was repeatedly assured that in his seed all 
the families of the earth should be blessed. Of Isaac, 
before his birth, it was said, <^ I will establish my 
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and 
with his seed after him and to Jacob was repeated 
the express declaration — <^ In thee and in thy seed 
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'^ These 
words are quoted by the apostle Peter, when he 
preached Christ to the multitude which were collect- 
ed at the temple upon the miraculous cure of the 
lame man, whei'e he tells them that they were the 
children (i. e. the inheritors) of the covenant which 
God made with their fathers ; the like reference is 
made by Paul in his address to the Jews in the sy- 
nagogue at Antioch, and in his defence before Agrip- 
pa. David was also a person highly distinguished by 
the divine favour; to him and his posterity were 
made many gracious and glorious promises, which 
cannot with any propriety be understood as refer- 
ring merely to an earthly kingdom and temporal 



fulfilled in Jesus of JS^azavetli. 69 



prosperity, for their failure in that sense is noto- 
rious; whereas their meaning, as expressed in pro- 
phetic language, has not in any age been doubtful to 
those that understood the spiritual nature of the Mes- 
siah's kingdom, who is spoken of by Isaiah, as ^< a 
rod to coiiiC forth out of the stem of Jesse and a 
branch to grow out of his roots"~by Jeremiah as 
^< a righteous branch'' to be raised up unto David— 
and again, as the " branch of righteousness to grow 
up unto David." And Ezekiel characterises him by 
name itself of David. Accordingly we find that those 
who looked for the redemption of Israel, whether un- 
der correct or mistaken notions, entertained no other 
idea (as founded on the prophecies) than that he was 
to be by natural descent, or as it is expressed in the 
text, " according to the flesh,*' the " son of David.'* 
By that title Jesus was spoken of, addressed, and 
welcomed in trium(3hal procession into Jerusalem ; 
the amazing miracles he wrought, called up the as- 
sociation in the minds of the spectators — " Is not 
this the son of David?" and through that prince his 
genealogy is traced by Luke in a direct line up to 
Abraham and even to Adam, as by creation the Son 
of God. It was a principal argument which the apos- 
tles used with the Jews to persuade them to accept 
of Jesus as the Christ, that he had raised unto them 
this Saviour of the seed of David. And Paul lays 
considerable stress upon this circumstance, as well 
worthy to be borne in mind, not only in our text, but 
in his second epistle to Timothy, chap. ii. 8. This 
being perfectly understood, it is unnecessary to dwell 
on tliose incidental expressioHS which denote him as 
a child to be born, as growing up like a tender plant, 
or like a branch from its parent stock, or of his in- 



70 Prophecies of the Messiah 



crease in wisdom and in stature. These are tl)€ na- 
tural characteristics of an human being, the expan- 
sion of whose intellectual faculties kept pace with ad- 
vancing age. On the subject of a state of glorious 
antecedent existence or equality with God, the pro- 
phets are profoundly silent; nor docs the evangeli- 
cal history supply the chasm which intervenes be- 
tween his early youth and his entrance upon his 
thirtieth year, when, in the language of the apostle, 
he was declared to be the Son of God w^ith power, 
by his anointing w ith the holy spirit. Read atten- 
tively the book of Acts, and you w'lW find the period 
of his coming dated from the time of that event and 
not before (See ch. i. 21, £2. x. 37, 38. xiii. 23, 24.). 
This naturally introduces what I proposed to con- 
sider, 

II. — The principal features of correspondence, in 
his character and actions, witii the words of pro- 
phecy. 

And here, our attention cannot fail to be particu- 
larly drawn to his annunciation as the Messiah by 
the prince of prophets, speaking in the person of Je- 
hovah himself, and in the loftiest style of inspiration 
Behold my servant whom I have chosen, mine 
elect in whom my soul delighteth !— I have put ray 
spirit upon him.'* Doubtless there were many pre- 
sent to whom this passage of sacred writ was fami- 
liar, and who uiust have been filled with an ecstasy 
of holy joy, when the heavens were opened— w hen the 
ray of glory was seen resting upon his head — wdien 
the voice was heard, substantiating the oracular de- 
signation, and proclaiming — « This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased.'' As an appointed 
witness, the Baptist had previous notice of the ap- 



fulfilled in Jesus of jyazareth. 71 



preaching event; he testifies — ^< I knew him not/' — 
That he had been personally acquainted with Jesus, 
and had seen something uncommonly excellent in his 
private character, and had even thought him design- 
ed to appear as a public teacher, is higldy probable 
— but he knew him not as the Messiah till it was di* 
Tinely suggested to him— Upon whom thou shalt 
see the spirit descending, and remaining on him, the 
same is he which baptizeth with the holy spirit."—* 
This was to be the distinguishing and specific seal of 
his appointment by God the Father; <<and I saw,'' 
says John, " and bare record that this is the Son of 
GodJ^ After a preparatory seclusion of forty days 
in the w ilderness, he returned, in the power of 
the spirit," into Galilee, and there opened his com- 
mission, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 
and saying, ** Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand." Anointed with the holy spirit and with 
power, he went about doing good, and healing all 
manner of sickness and disease among the people, 
for God was with him." 

We have heard the prophet speaking in the per- 
son of Jehovah, let us now listen to him in that of 
the messenger of the heavenly grace (ch. Ixi. 1.) : 
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because 
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good titiings 
unto the meek; he hath sent me to heal the broken- 
hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the 
opening of the prison to them that are bound- — to 
prea( h the acceptable year of the Lord." " And this 
day," said the Saviour, while the eyes of all in the 
synagogue at Nazareth were fastened on liim, '^is 
this scripture fulfilled in your ears." And all bare 
him witness," gave their full assent to the verifica- 



7S Prophecies of the Messiah 



tion of the prophecy, and wondered at the gracious 
words that proceeded out of his mouth/' But, re- 
collecting the obscurity of his origin — that they had 
known hiin from a child — were acquainted with all 
his family — 'that he had been brought up among them 
as the son of a common mechanic — and prepossessed 
with a notion that when the Messiah should come 
none would know from whence, they were offended 
in him, and with brutal fury even made an attempt 
upon his life. And thus was fulfilled that which was 
spoken by the same prophet— He was despised and 
rejected of men — v\e hid, as it were, our faces from 
him— he was despised, and we esteemed him not.'' 

How largely and pre-eminently displayed are the 
mental endowments of him who was to be the Light 
of the world/ His name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor" — the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon 
him, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of 
knowledge and of the fear of the Lord ; and shall 
make him of quirk understanding in the fear of the 
Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his 
eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears ; 
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and 
reprove with equity for the meek of the earth j and 
he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, 
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the 
wicked.'' (Is. xi. 2, 3, 4.) Behcdd my servant 
shall deal prudently." (ch. lii. 13.) All these we find 
amply exemplified in the novelty, beauty and apti- 
tude of his parables^ in the excellence and purity of 
his precepts, and in the air of divine authority with 
which they were delivered. The multitude were as- 
tonished at his doctrine; and even those who came 
with orders to seize him were disarmed of their vio- 



fulfilled in Jesus of J^azareth. 73 



lence, and returned confessing, Never man spake 
like tliis man/' His prudence was conspicuous in 
avoidin.^ the snares laid for the purpose of entrap- 
ping him in his words. He judged not after the sight 
of his eyes, neither reproved after the hearing of his 
ears, for he knew what was in man, and was able to 
detect and expose hypocrisy under its deepest dis- 
guises and most specious appearances. With right- 
eousness did he judge the poor, and reprove with 
equity for the meek of the earth, when he defended 
the despised, but humble and penitent publican and 
sinner, from the contemptuous and uncharitalile cen- 
sures of those who trusted in themselves tfiat they 
were righteous. With the breath of his lips he slew 
the wicked, when he made his enemies condemn them- 
selves out of their own mouths by appeals to their 
judgment and conscience which they could not evade. 
How numerous were the instances in which, as it had 
been foretold, he opened the eyes of the blind, un- 
stopped the ears of the deaf, made the lame to leap 
as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb to sing! How 
like a mighty God" did he appear when he arose 
and rebuked the winds and the waves with that ma- 
jestic command— Peace — be still< — »and there was a 
great calm!" " and the men feared exceedingly, ^ind 
said one to another, what manner of man is this, that 
even the wind and the sea obey him !'' 

Intrusted with the exercise of powers so superna- 
tural and irresistible, he never employed them, eitlier 
for his own aggrandisement, or to retaliate upon 
those who sought his life to take it away. Far from 
taking advantage of the popular enthusiasm which 
the miracle of the loaves had excited in his favour, 
he departed into a mountain himself alone." Wheri 

G 



74 Prophecies of the Messiah 



an infatuated multitude pressed upon him with the 
instruments of death in their hands, he repressed 
their rage with this gentle remonstrance — "Many 
good works have I showed you from my Father, for 
which of those works do ye stone me?" When the 
Pharisees held a council against him how they might 
destroy him, he silently withdrew from the place; 
and though great multitudes followed him, he neither 
excited them to tumult, nor formed them into an 
army for his defence, but charged them that they 
should not make him known for, said the prophet, 
quoted on this occasion by the evangelist, " He shall 
not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his 
voice in the streets/^ Not that such a retired con- 
duct was the effect of «^ failure" or " discourage- 
naent," or betrayed any doubt of final success to his 
cause ; but his arms were only those of truth and 
righteousness and peace, and his trophies the raising 
lip of those who, like the bruised reed," were bow- 
ed down, and the kindling, into a bright and lively 
flame, the half-extinguished taper. " Come unto me 
(such were the foUowers he wished to gather around 
him) all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and 
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and 
ye shall find rest unto your souls j for my yoke is 
easy and my burden is light." 

Such w as the proclamation of the Prince of Peace, 
in reference to whom it had been said by the pn^phet 
Z» chariah (ix. 9.) " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of 
Zion — shout, O daughter of Jerusalem— behold thy 
King Cometh unto thee ; he is just and having salva- 
tion, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt 
the foal of an ass." This was literally fulfilled when 



fulfilled in Jesus of JS^axafeth. 7S 



much people took branches of palm trees (the emblem 
of victory) and went forth to meet him, while he ap- 
proached in unostentatious state, but before which 
the proudest exhibitions of worldly pomp and splen- 
dour might have hid their diminished heads, crying, 
^^Hosanna! Blessed be the King that cometh in the 
name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the 
highest!'' And these things were done, not with any 
designed reference to the prophecy, nor was it till 
some time afterwards that the correspondence of the 
prediction with the event was recollected. 

But instead of this triumphant scene, a sad re- 
Terse was within a few hours to be exhibited — nay it 
is probable that the same lips which now sung ho- 
sannas, then vociferated, " Crucify him, crucify 
him/^ It was expressly revealed to Daniel that 
Messiah the Prince should be cut off, though not 
for himselP^ — yea, though he had "done no violence, 
neither was deceit in his mouth,'^ « he was cut off 
out of the land of the living.'^ It would be altogether 
unnecessary minutely to bring into comparison the 
prospective delineation of our Lord's sufferings, as 
given in the 53d chapter of Isaiah's prophecy, and 
their history, as recorded by the evangelists. So ac- 
curate and striking is the rbsemblance, that one 
would think incredulity itself could scarcely hold out 
against conviction. If, as Philip did to the Ethio- 
pian eunuch, we were only to begin at this same 
scripture and preach Jesns, what ingenuous, open, 
candid mind, could fail of arriving at the same con- 
clusion, or hesitate to say with him, " I believe that 
Jesus Christ is the Son of God!" With astonishment 
and awe may we contemplate the blindness of the 
people of Israel, and the thickness of that veil which 



76 Prophecies of tJie Messiah 



until this day remaineth untaken away in the read- 
ing of the Old Testament, so that they cannot look 
upon him, whom their fathers pierced, as their Re- 
deemer and their King; for it may be seen, that 
with the very passages which speak of his sufferings 
and death, are interwoven predictions of what they 
profess to expect, namely the Messiah's future tri- 
umphs and glories — He' shall see his seed, he shall 
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
prosper in his hand — he shall see of the travail of 
his soul and shall be satisfied. Therefore will i di- 
vide him a portion with the great, and he shall di- 
vide the spoil with the strong, because he hath pour- 
ed out his soul unto death. The veil then, we may 
hope, will at length be taken away, and Israel shall 
turn unto the Lord. Reflecting on their former un- 
belief, they will probably saj — O fools, and slow 
of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 
Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things 
and to enter into his glory 

^<They testified,^' says the apostle Peter, '^tht 
sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should fol- 
low;'^ whence we are led to understand, that a prin- 
cipal part at least of this glory, is the universal pre- 
valence of his religion, and the bringing of all na- 
tions to the obedience of faith. These things were 
the subjects of such earnest and diligent inquiry, and 
are described in such sublime and rapturous terms 
in the prophetic writings, that it is the less to be 
wondered at, that the introductory facts of the re- 
surrection and ascension of Christ, are not more dis- 
tinctly brought into view. We find nothing more 
immediately to this purpose than what is quoted by 
Peter and Paul from the 16th Psalm, where it in 



fulfilled in Jesus of J^azareth. 77 



said—" Thou wilt not leave my soul in the gravest 
nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption.'^ And by 
Peter, from Psalm ex. Sit thou at my right hand 
tjntil I make thine enemies thy footstool.'* But if the 
testimony a priori to these great events be not so full 
and explicit as to some others, blessed be God, there 
is no deficiency of evidence as to their having really 
taken place— this is as ample as the warmest friend 
to the Christian cause can wish. I therefore pass on 
to the third particular, which was, 

III. — To propose the things, contained in the pro- 
phecies which are yet uncompleted, as the grounds 
of a consistent faith in the power and truth of the 
Almighty. 

And here is a range for our benevolent feelings^ 
our hopes, and wishes, and prayers, which needs not 
to be confined within any narrower limits, than those 
of the world itself, and its utmost duration. It did 
indeed comport with the divine economy and pro- 
mises, that the Messiah should first be sent to the 
house of Israel ; and the intimations which Jesus 
gave to his apostles of a more extensive plan of sal- 
vation, were but few and distant. From tenderness 
to their prejudices, he forbore to press upon their at« 
tention a thing so foreign from all their ideas as the 
incorporation of the Gentiles with the ancient people 
of God ; and when they learned, that even to these 
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel the gifts of 
the holy Spirit were communicated, they exclaimed 
with surprise--^** Then hath God also to the Gentiles, 
granted repentance unto life!/^ Till then, they seem 
either to have overlooked, or too narrowly inter- 
preted, the prophecies which spoke of these things j 
but we find th^m afterwards, on several occasions^ 

G 2. 



78 Prophecies of the Messiah 



applying them in their proper sense, and acting ia 
conformity. Since, therefore, the wall of partition 
was thus broken down, and we need no other testi- 
mony than our own experience, to the actual exten- 
sion of gospel blessings to the nations of the earth at 
large, let us, for a few moments, attend to what the 
scriptures declare concerning their ^m^versality'^ 
their duration — and their effects. 

The nniversalittj of the gospel call was thus pro- 
claimed by its appointed herald (Isa. xl. 3, 4, 5.) : 
^« The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness— 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in 
the desert an highway for our God, Every valley 
shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall 
be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, 
and the rough places plain ; and the glory of the 
Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it to- 
gether, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."* 
(ch. xlix. 6. & scq.) It is a light thing that thoa 
shouhlst be my servant, to raise up the ti ibes of Ja- 
cob, and to restore the preserved of Israiel; I will 
also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou 
mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.'* 

Thus saitli the Lord, the Rfdeemer of Israel and 
his Holy One, to him whom man despisetfi, to him 
whom the nation abhorreth — in an acceptable time 
have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I 
helped thee, and I will preserve thee, and give thee 
for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, 
to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.'* (( h. lii. 
10, &c.) " The Lord hath made bare his holy arm 
in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the 
earth shall see the salvation of our God. Behold my 
servant shall be exalted, and extolled, and be very 



fulfilled in Jesus of J^azavetli. 79 



liigh — he shall sprinkle many nations; the kings 
shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had 
not been told them shall they see, and that which 
they had not heard shall they consider.'^ (( h, Iv. 4, 
5.) <^ Behold I have given him for a witness to the 
people, a leader and commander to the people. Be- 
hold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, 
and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, 
because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One 
of Israel, for he hath glorified thee/' (ch. Ixvi. 18.) 

It shall come, that 1 will gather all nations and 
tongues, and they shall come and see my glory/^ 
(ch. Ixi. 11.) As the earth bringpti) forth her bud, 
and as the garden causeth the things that are sown 
in it to spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause 
righteousness and praise to spring forth before all 
the nations/' 

The duration^ as well as the universality, of the 
Messiah's reign, is thus particularly specified by the 
prophet Daniel, ch. vii. 13, 14. I saw in the night 
visions, and behold one like the Son of man came 
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient 
of days, and they brought him near before him. And 
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a 
kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, 
should serve him — his dominion is an everlasting do- 
minion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom 
that which shall not be destroyed." And to this 
agree those words of Lsaiah, ch. ix. 7. which de- 
scribe him as the Father of an everlasting age, of 
the increase of whose government there should be no 
end — to order and establish the throne and kingdom 
of David, with judgment and justice, from thence- 
forth; even for ever." The concluding clause de- 



80 



Prophecies of the Messiah 



dares, that ^< the zeal of the Lord of hosts will per« 
form this'^ — but the subordinate agent, upon whose 
shoulder the government should be laid, was a child 
to he horih a son to he given, and therefore could not 
be the everlasting father,'' in the sense in which 
those words are generally, but erroneously, under- 
stood. To this may be added what is said in Ps. 
Ixxii. 17. of Solomon the son of David, but prospec- 
tively and more appropriately of David's greater 
son, <^ His name shall endure for ever — ^his name 
shall be continued as long as the sun — and men shall 
be blessed in him— all nations shall call him blessed." 

Among the glorious effects of the Messiah's reign, 
we are taught by the same authority to believe, shall 
be the establishment of the worship of the One only 
living and true God, and of universal peace. The 
unity of Jehovah, and his exclusive title to the reli- 
gious homage and adoration of all liis rational off- 
spring, are set forth, by Isaiah in particular, in the 
sublimest terms that the language of mortals is ca- 
pable of supplying— Nor can our faith be exercised 
with greater reason and stronger assurance upon any 
subject, than that these grand and fundamental prin- 
ciples of all true religion shall finally take place of 
that gross idolatry into which many of the nations 
of the world are sunk, and that lamentable depar- 
ture from them which prevails through the greater 
part of the professors of Christianity. While there- 
fore, upon this ground, as Unitarians, we take our 
firm and decided stand, let us derive encouragement 
and support from such declarations as the following 
(Isa. xIvt 22, 23.) Look unto me and be ye saved, 
all the ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there is 
none else. 1 have sworn by myself^ the word is gone 



fulfilled in Jesus of JSTazareth. 81 



out of my mouth in righteousness, and sliall not re- 
turn, that unto me every knee shall bow — every 
tongue shall swear'' — -thus pa. aphrased in the lan- 
guage of the new covenant, hv Paul in his epistle to 
the Philippians — ^* That in the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Je- 
sus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'* 
(Zeph. iii. 9.) « For then will £ turn to the people a 
pure language, that they may all call upon the name 
of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." (Zech. 
xiv. 8, 9.) And it shall be, in that day, that living 
waters shall go out from Jerusalem— and the Lord 
shall be king over all the earth ; in that day shall 
there be one Lord, and his name one.'' (Mai. i* 11.) 

From the rising of the sun even to the going down 
of the same, my name shall be great among the Gen- 
tiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto 
my name, and a pure offering— for my name shall 
be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of 
hosts." 

And, finally, if we admit, upon these indisputable 
premises, the universal and permanent prevalence of 
the religion of Jesus, we are led, by a most eavsy and 
natural deduction, to hail him as the Prince of 
Peace," whose doctrine, whose precepts, whose ex- 
ample, as set forth in his gospel, shall have the 
blessed effect of correcting, and finally of extinguish* 
ing (under the superintending direction of the divine 
providence) all those irregular and baneful passions 
which are the fruitful sources of human calamity, and 
shall introduce uninterrupted order and harmony^ 
love and good-will, among the great family of man- 
kind, as brethren and children of one father, 



B2 Prophecies of the Messiah 



When Zechariali had described the entrance of 
Christ into Jerusalem, so different from that of a 
warlike conqueror, he adds (rh. ix. 10.) And I 
will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse 
from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow shall be cut off; 
and he shall speak peace to the heathen, and his do- 
minion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river 
to the ends of the earth/' In what lofty language 
does our divine prophet announce the approach (al- 
though so far diss ant the arrival) of this blessed sera! 
(Isa. ii. 2 — i.) It shall come to pass in the last 
days, that many people shall go and say, Come ye, 
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord — and 
he will teach us of his Wdyn^ and we will walk in his 
paths. And he shall jndge amcing the nations, and 
shall rebuke many people ; and they shall beat thctr 
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into 
pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword against 
nation, neither shall they learn war any more.'* 
These words are repeated in the prophecy of Micah, 
ch. iv. at the beginning, with this addition, v. 4~ 

But they shall sit, every man under his vine, and 
under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid; 
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it/' 
(Isa. Ix. 15, &c.) I will make thee an eternal ex- 
cellency, the joy of many generations — 1 will also 
make thine officers peace, and thine exactors right- 
eousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy 
land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; 
but thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates 
praise. Thy people also shall be all righteous, they 
shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my plant- 
ing, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.'' 



fulfilled in Jesus of J^axareth. 83 



In this rapturous vision, he beholds beasts of prey 
laying aside their ferocity, and gently associating 
witli those they were wont to devour — tamely yield- 
ing themselves as subjects for the innocent sports of 
children ; and even poisonous reptiles disarmed of 
their venom, familiar and hurtless. (Isa. xi. 6, &c.) 
« The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and 
the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little 
child shall lead them. Aiid the cow and the bear 
shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together, 
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the 
su( king child shall play on the hole of the asp, and 
the weaned child shall put his hand on the cocka- 
trice's den. They shall not hurt, nor destroy, in all 
my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.'* 
Nor even at this point does the sacred rapture sub- 
side — in another place (ch. Iv. 12.) the whole fare of 
nature is represented as assuming new forms of beau- 
ty and gladness, and the earth herself as breaking 
her everlasting silence to heighten the glories of the 
scene — ^< Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth 
with peace — the mountains and the hills shall break 
forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the 
field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn 
shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar 
shall come up the myrtle tree, and (mark the conclu- 
sion, which justifies its application to the present 
subject) it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an 
everlasting sign that shall not be cut offj^ 

Thus, mv friends, have I laid befjre you the prin- 
cipal of those passages of sarred writ which enter 
into the foundaiion of our faith and hope as Chris- 



84 " Propliecies of the Messiah 



tians — a foundation laid in the eternal power, truth, 
and mercy of God — immoveable as the everlasting 
hilJs — sure ami firm as the ordinances of heaven. 
Well might the discipl s, with whom Jesus walked 
to Emmaus, and to whom he expounded all things in 
Moses and the prophets concerning himself, feel their 
hearts burn within them, while he talked with them 
hy the way, and opened to them the scriptures. And 
is there not, even in that partial investigation which 
I have been humbly attempting, enough to make every 
ingenuous, pious, benev* lent and philanthropic bosom 
glow with grateful satisfaction as to the past, and joy- 
ful anticipation, as to what is yet in the womb of futu- 
rity, of the divine promises? Much that I have omit- 
ted, probably your memory, but more especially your 
diligent study of the sacred oracles will supply. For 
the omission of one particular, which doubtless is 
much dwelt upon in this day's ad<lresses from the pul- 
pit, I will ask leave to state my reasons. It is that 
in Isaiah vii. 14, Behold a virgin shall concei\e,'* 
and so forth. Read attentively from the first verse 
of that chapter to the sixteenth, and you will find it 
relates to a transaction, not of distant and future, but 
of then present interest. The invasion of Judah was 
threatened, by the king of Syria and the king of Is- 
rael, for the purpose of deposing Ahaz, and setting 
up another in his stead. The prophet, in the name 
of God, advises him to take heed and be quiet, for 
that this design should not stand nor come to pass, 
offering to confirm the prediction by a sign which 
Ahaz himself should choose. This he declines, under 
the specious and respectful pretence, that he will not 
tempt the Lord, but in reality, as may be gathered 
from the history, because he "was determined upon 



fuljilled in Jesus of J^azavpth. 85 

resistance, whereby he brought sore calamities upon 
himself and his people. Tiie prophet then, in a tone 
of angry reproof, declares that the Lord himself 
should give a sigjj, which was, that by the time a 
young female, then unmarried, should change her 
condition and become a mother, and before the chiid 
should be old enough to distinguish between go d 
and bad, tiie hostile country should be forsaken of 
both its kings. Accordingly, within a certain period 
answering to the prophecy, both these princes were 
cut off by the king of Assyria. Now, although this 
is applied to the conception and birth of Jesus in the 
first chapter of Matthew, yet as it is neither noticed 
at the beginning .>i Luke*s gospel, nor in any subse- 
quent part of the evangelical history, I conclude that 
it is a circumstance of no importance. Most certain 
it is, that Jesus is never called the Son of God (by 
which, as a teim of distinction, 1 always understand 
the Messiah^ the Christy the Anointed,) on account of 
his supposed njiraculous conception, nor at any time 
previous to his baptism, w hen he had attained his 
thirtieth year. But, granting every thing that is 
contended for from the passage in question, it will 
prove no more than that our Lord was an human 
being, miraculously produced. What else indeed 
can be understood by the solemnities with which this 
day (supposed to be that of his nativity) is celebrated 
throughout the Christian world ? And yet, (O most 
astonishing !) wliile he is thus acknowledged to have 
been a new-born infant, needing all the cares of ma- 
ternal solicitude and tenderness — wrapped, as any of 
ourselves might have been, in swaddling clothes a^id 
laid in a manger, it is at the same time believed aud 
argued that he was God Almighty — the maker and 

H 



86 Prophecies of the Messiah^ §"e. 



Tipliolder of all natHre~unboun(lecHy present thron,^h- 
oiit all spacf* — a pure, eternalj self-existent Spirit, 
who can have neither beginning nor end ! — the same 
who had dec lared by the mouth of his prophets, I 
am God and not man''— I am the Lord who change 
not.'' But enough — this is a laby rinth wliere every 
step conducts the wanderer through in^^reasing ob- 
scurity into total darkness. Let us, my friends, re- 
joice that we walk in the light, and in the full enjoy- 
ment of our Christian liberty — that we can take the 
word of God into ouv hands, and stud> its meaning, 
without being obliged to sqfiare our inquiries and 
conclusions by systems and formularies of human 
device. These things we leave, unmoved by any 
spirit of bitterness or condemnation, to those who 
choose to take them as their guides, contenting our- 
selves with the knowledge and worship of One God 
even the Father, through the One Mediator of his 
appointment, the man Christ Jesus^ as upon the best 
of all authorities, that of Christ himself, the way to 
life eternal. 



SERMON V. 



CHRIST'S RESURRECTION THE EFFECT OF ALMIGHTY 
POWER AND THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 



DELiyERED ON EASTER SU2FDAY, 1814. 

2 Cor. xiii. 4. 

'-'He liveih btf the potver of God* 

God hath spoken once/' saith David in the 62d 
Psalns, «^ twice have I heard this, that power beh)ng- 
eth unto God." This, my friends, is a branch of di- 
vine instruction in which we all ought to be profi- 
cients. It is a voice to which our attention hath been 
called, not once or twice ; for every day of our lives 
uttereth this speech to another, every night unto 
night sheweth this knowledge. We have only to lift 
up our eyes on high, and consider who hath created 
these things — ^bringing out their host by number — 
calling them all by names, by the greatness of his 
might — for that he is strong in poxuer^ not one faii- 
eth. Tiie more deeply we are read in the book of 
nature, the more impressive does this conviction be- 
come. Who can think, without an astonishment 
which precludes every attempt to form an adequate 
idea, of the manner and measure of that coercive 
force by which the immense quantities of matter 



88 Christ raised by the Power of God. 



which compose the planetary system, in themselves 
senseless, inert, and motionless, were collected? — of 
that directive impulse which caused them to assume 
the globular form? — and, having hung them, self- 
balanced, on their centres, propelled them tlirough 
the trackless regions of ether with a velocity, with 
which the imagination in vain endeavours to keep 
pace? — yet so exactly proportions the attractive and 
projectile forces, as to produce a revolution within 
limits which are never transgressed, and according 
to laws which are never infringed, nor in the small- 
est degree interruptive of another process by which 
they are whirled round their axes with similar rapi- 
dity, constancy, and precision. If, quitting celestial 
objects, we survey the system of things with which 
we are more immediately connected, how do proofs 
and instances of almighty power crowd upon us from 
every quarter! We behold them in the appearances 
and operations of the several elements — in the cloud- 
caj)t mountain, and the tremendous volcano — -in the 
ebbing and flowing ocean, and the rushing cataract 
— in the svveeping hurricane, and the devastating 
earthquake! Retiring within a still more confined 
circle, how are we struck with the infinitely diversi- 
fied modifications and changes of the same original 
matter! How surprising its sublimation from its 
heavy, torpid, and inactive state, and its transmuta- 
tion into the forms, first of vegetable, then of animal 
life! Vvom whence, but from an omnipotent agency, 
could a sijbject, so totally removed in its origin and 
condition from any thing like sensation or intelli- 
gence, derive, as in the inferior orders of creatures, 
the faculties of instinct, of associating ideas, of com- 
paring and determining? Or of rising, as in the hu« 



Christ raised by the Power of God. 89 

man race, to the high pre-eminence of perceiving the 
moral difference of actions and dispositit)ns, and of 
reasoning on their respective consequences? — But 
here oui' attention is called to another change. With 
regard to several of the inanimate products of almigh- 
ty power, they remain from age to age, memorials of 
its primitive and stupendous efficiency ^ hut on every 
thing that lives the sentence is gone forth — <^ dust ye 
are, and unto dust ye shall return/' However cu- 
riously organised the system, however noble the 
structure — weakness, decay, dissolution, are insepa- 
rable from its nature. With respect to these, the 
wisdom and power of man, which enable him to con- 
trol some of the established laws in their immediate 
application, totally fail — he is as unable to protract 
existence beyond its appointed limit, as at first to im- 
part the principle of vitality. Here he feels, sensibly 
feels his entire dependence on superior influence; and 
however strong the attachment with which he clings 
to life, must quit his hold upon it when the destined 
moment arrives. And hence such reflections as these 
will almost unavoidably occur— iklthough this con- 
stitution of things must be resolved into the power 
and pleasure of the Almighty, is it consistent with his 
goodnesr^? Is it possible tliat he can have implanted 
within us this inextinguishable desire of prolonged 
being and happiness, merely to disappoint it ? Or if 
it be allowed that there may be, in the divine mind^ 
a disposition to give back what is thus taken away, 
has not even omnipotence its limits ? Certain it is 
that impossibilities and contradictions are not objects 
of power; and to suppf)se that it could be employed 
f<»r such purposes, would be in itself an absurdity. 
The myii inquiry then will be, whether a restoration 

H £ 



90 



Christ raised by the Power of God. 



of the functions of life, and a capacity for enjoyment^ 
ought to be reckoned as in itself impossible and con- 
tradictory ? Now if one thing were more difficult than 
another to him who can do every thing, it would 
seem less easy to cause existence and sensation where 
they were not before, than to re-establish tliem, hav- 
ing been once possessed. To constitute a living and 
thinking being, it appears to be necessary that cer- 
tain particles of matter should unite under certain 
laws and conformations, establisiied by the will and 
w^isclom of the Creator. The same power by which 
they were made to coalesce, ordains indeed their se- 
paratio7i9 but not their anniliilation. That a single 
atom, since the creation of the world, has been lost 
or destroyed can neither be proved nor conceived. 
Whi't then is to prevent their resuming^ at the com- 
mand of the Maker of all things, the same^ or as- 
suming a similar or an improved configuration and 
constitution, although in the mean time they may 
have undergone innumerable alterations and transi- 
tions, through e\ery one of which they have been 
followed by his all-discerning eye and been subject 
to his unerring direction ? That a quantity of matter 
may be made to pass through a variety of changes, 
and to recover, at length, its pristine form and ap- 
pearance, is familiarly known to every experimen- 
talist ; and, from all these considerations, the possi- 
bility of the return of a rational being to a state of 
consciousness and activity, after losing them by 
death, would seem to be beyond question. Be it ob- 
served, however, that although this reasoning may 
be satisfactory so far as it goes, it scarcely advances 
us to the confines of probability, and might have 
fallen far short eveo of this, but for the superior light 



Christ raised by the Power of God. 91 



we derive from the gospel. We are not without the 
means of forming a judgment on this head. Among 
that people who were favoured with a divine revela- 
tion, though there were some w ho believed a resur- 
rection, in consequence of distant intimations to that 
effect in their sacred writings, yet direct evidence 
was wanting, and there were some who denied it al- 
together. Agrippa, who was a Jew, and a believer 
in the prophets, was one of those who accounted it a 
thing incredible that God should raise the dead. As 
for the learned and polite among the Greeks, such as 
the Epicurean and Stoic philosoplurs, who were at- 
tracted by the novelty of Paul's doctrine at Athens, 
when they found that it referred to a resurrection of 
the dead, they either turned it into ridicule, or treat- 
ed it with indifference. The wisest and best among 
them had indeed some vague and incoherent notions 
concerning a subterraneous region, the receptacle of 
the ghosts or shades of the dead, where they either 
dwelt in bliss, or were doomed to torment, according 
to their conduct when living; but it was too abun- 
dant in absurdities to be the subject of rational and 
deliberate conviction. The power of God to rekindle, 
at a future and distant period, the extinguished lamp 
of life, was an idea that never entered their minds j 
of his purpose to do so they must necessarily have 
been ignorant. It was for want of properly advert- 
ing to the power of God, as well as ignorance of the 
scriptures, that the Sadducees fell into their great 
error respecting the resurrection. But the conclu- 
siveness of an argument a priori is perceived with 
tenfold force of conviction when the fact to which 
it relates has actually taken place* So it is in 
the present instance, — We are not under the ne- 



93 Christ raised by the Power of God. 



cessity of resting either upon pcissibility or pro- 
bability—we have evidence, so certain and indis- 
putable, as even to supersede all argument, as to 
set aside all conjecture, and tu give the plainest 
Christian, of the present day, a decided advantage 
over the wisest philosopher of old. God hath 
RAISED UP Jesus and showed him openly." The 
excellen' y of that strength, to vvhi( h no obsiat le can 
be opposed, and the credit of that testimony wliich 
cannot be invalidated, have placed our faith upon a 
basis immoveable as the everlasting hills. <^ Thanks 
be to God who always causeth us to triumph in 
Christ!" who hath <^ raised him from the dead, and 
given him glory, that our faith and our hope might 
be in God." For the cherisliing and strengthening 
of this faith and this hope, permit me to call your 
attention to a few, out of very many, passages in the 
apostolic declarations and writings, illustrative of the 
cardinal truth in my text — that *^ Clirist liveth by 
the power of God." Peter, addressing the multitudo 
on the day of Pentecost, speaks of Jesus as the man 
approved among tiiem by miracles and wonders — 
crucified and slain — whom God had raised up, having 
loosed the pains of death, because (in oppf)sition to 
his decree) it was not possible he should have been- 
holden of it. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, ce- 
lebrating the faith of Abraham, and observing that 
it was counted unto him for righteousness, says, that 
such shall be the effect with respect to us, if we be- 
lieve on him that raised tip our Lord Jesus from 
the dead; and, in another place, asserts that this is 
faith unto salvation. And again—" Like as Christ 
was raised from the dead by the glory (or the glo- 
rious power) of the Father , even so we also should 



Christ raised by the Power of God. 93 



walk in newness of life/^ Writing to the Ephesians, 
he tells them that he ceased not to make mention 
of them in his prayers, that the God of our Lord Je- 
sus Christ, the Father of glory, might give them to 
know the exceeding greatness of Ids power towards 
tliem that hilieved, according to the working of his 
mighty power 9 which he wrought in Christ, when he 
raised him from the dead^ and set him at his own right 
hand," and so on. Of the Colossians, he says, that 
they are " risen with Christ, through faith of the 
operation of God who raised him from the dead;^^ And 
the epistle to the Hehrews concludes with a devout 
wish, that the God of peace, who brought again 
from the dead our Lord Jesus^ would make them per- 
fect in every good work to do his will.'' 

If any who now hear me are of those who consider 
the resurrection of Christ as effected by his own 
power, and therefore a proof of his divinity, I would 
intreat them seriously to reflect, whether such a po- 
sition be credible in itself, or can be reconciled with 
declarations so direct and unequivocal as those I have 
now adduced. Can it possibly make the way clearer 
to a belief in the resurrection of Jesus, as the foun- 
dation of our hope for eternity, to admit that deity 
and death, immortality and mortality, can meet in 
inseparable union in the same person, and yet conti- 
nue so distiijct as that the one may act upon and 
subdue the other? Authoritative and dogmatical asser- 
tions to this efftu :t, may indeed amaze and confound, 
and produce an implicit and submissive, but by no 
means a rational and scriptural faith, such as easily 
and naturally flows from an adherence to the pure, 
simple, and original principles of the unity and su- 
premacy of God the Father^ and the proper humani- 



9i Christ raised by the Power of God. 



iy of Chrisf, He says indeed, John, x. 18. No man 
taketfi my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. 
I have poMcr to lay it down, and I have power to 
take it again'' — and here they who quote the passage 
for a particular purpose find it convenient to stop. — 
But when we hear him immediately adding— ^* this 
commandment (or commission) have I received of 
my Father"' — the true sense, and its consonance with 
the whole body of evangelical testimony on the sub- 
ject, are sufficiently apparent* 

Having thus proved, I trust beyond contradiction, 
that our Lord Jesus Christ owed his recovered life 
to the good pleasure and power of that eternal and 
immortal Being who alone is the fountain of life, in 
whose hand only it is, to give, to destroy, or to re- 
store, let us, in the next place, consider how this im- 
portant fact is connected \^ith, and affords the hope 
of our ow n release from the bonds of death, and our 
entrance upon a highly improved, and most desirable, 
state of existence. Now it will be easily understood 
that this hope must mainly depend upon a corres- 
pondence between his circumstances and ourSf as to 
a complete subjection to the effects and consequences 
of the mortal Conflict j for if his nature contained a 
principle so superior to it as deitijf and this were the 
cause of his triumph, there will be very little room 
indeed to pursue the argument to a like conclusion 
with respect to us^ who can boast of no such advan- 
tage. But it must be apparent to every unprejudiced 
reader of the New Testament history, that notwith- 
standing his high endowments and qualifications as 
the Messiah—the Son of God (for both terms have 
the same signification) to whom the gifts of the spirit 
were imparted without measure, he was in all other 



Christ raised by the Power of &ocL 95 



respects (consistent with perfect innocence) made 
like unto his brethren, partook of all their constitu- 
tional infirmities, and felt all tlie agonies and pangs 
incident to a violent and premature dissolution. To 
this bear all the evangelises and apostles witness—* 
nor is a syllable left on re* ord, of any innate energy 
whereby the fatal catastrophe might have been 
evaded, or the vital spark preserved. In any otiier 
case they would have been found false witnesses of 
God, of whom they testified tiiat he raised up Christ, 
whom he did not so raise up if his death had not been 
real, or could have admitted of any double meaning* 
Are we then to tolerate such a serious impeachment 
of tlieir integrity, as to suppose that they wilfully 
suppressed — or know ing, did they think it not w orth 
while to notice — or were they altogether ignorant of 
what has since been held forth as of su( h {vrimary 
importance? One or other of these conclusions ap- 
pears to be inevitable. But we are not obliged to 
take up with negative evidence. Paul's whole argu- 
ment for the resurrection of the dead, in the 15tfi of 
his first epistle to the Corinthians, is directly to the 
point — As by man came death, by man came also 
the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, 
even so in Christ sh ill all be made alive." The fact 
itself and its consequential and parallel proposition, 
he, on several occasions, makes the ground of joyful 
confidence — He that raised up Christ from the dead 
shall also quicken your mortal bodies" — « God hath 
both raised up the Lord, and will raise up us by his 
ow n power" — " He who raised up the Lord Jesus 
shall raise up us also by Jesus" — if we believe that 
Jesus died and ix)se again, even so them also who 
sleep in Jesus will God bring w ith him" — If we be 



96 Christ raised bf the Power of God. 



deatl with Christ, we shall also live with him,'^ and 
our Lord himself told his apostles — becaUvSe 1 live 
ye shall live also." 

If then we begin to perceive the value of this bless- 
ed hope of being planted in the likeness of our Sa- 
viour^s resurrection, as we shall be also in the like- 
ness of his death— if he liveth by the power of 
Got!," let us next inquire to what kind of life it hath 
raised him, that we may obtain some idea, however 
imperfect, of the effect of the same power upon our- 
selves. If he had been raised, as some had been, 
formerly through the agency of the prophets, and 
latterly by his own, merely to enjoy a few years of 
longer existence in the present state, and then to pass 
again through the valley of the shadow of death — 
nay, though his renewed existence were to have con- 
tinued through a succession of ages, and then to have 
come to a period, our interest in the event would 
have been comparatively of small importance. But 
God liath raised Jesus again, no more to return to 
the house of corruption — Eeing raised from the 
dead, he dieth no more— death hath no more domi- 
nion over him" — he is risen again and ever liveth 
at the right hand of the Majesty on liigh'^ — « is made 
a priest after the power of an endless life''- — .he it is, 

who liveth, and was dead, and behold he is alive 
for evermore/' Hear then the gracious encourage- 
ment he gives his faithful followers to connect their 
everlasting existenre and happin^^ss with his own— 
« Let not your heart be troubled — ye believe in God, 
believe also in me. In my Fatfier's house are many 
mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. 
I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and pre- 
pare a place for you, 1 will come again, and receive 



Christ raised by the Foicer of God. 9/ 

you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be 
also/' Yes, my friends, it is not only lifef but im- 
morialitif that is brought to light by the gospel — it is 
eternal life which is the gift of God through Jesus 
Christ our Lord— a gift to which that of 5em^, which 
we originally have derived from his power, owes its 
principal — I had almost said its onlij value. So then, 

when Christ who is our life shall appear, we also 
sliall appear with him in glovy^^—^^ he died for us 
that we should live together with him.^' And thougSi 

it doth not yet appear what we shall be, yet tliis 
we know, that when he shall appear we shall be like 
him, for we shall see him as he is'' — « As we have 
borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the 
image of the heavenly""— «^ This corruptible shall put 
on incorruption, and this mortal immortality"- — > 
^< Death shall be swallowed up in victory" — morta- 
lity by life everlasting. 

But while we exult in the thought, and feel all its 
value as the basis and confirmation of our faith and 
hope, that as our blessed Lord's nature was, like 
our's, mortalf so our's shall become like liis, immortal 
— that both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanc- 
tified are all of one, partakers of the same flesh and 
blood, so that he is not ashamed to call them brethren 
. — ^yet let us not be unmindful of his high ( haracter, 
or neglect to look up to him witis due reverence as 
the prince of life^ as appointed of God to be the frst 
that should rise from the dead, by an immediate act 
of divine energy, to an immortal life — the frst born 
among many brethren — the beginning of the new crea- 
tion — the Jirst fruits of them that slept — the^rs^ born^ 
or, as it is elsewhere expressed, the^r5f5e,fof/^?i from 
the dead, that in all things he miglit have the pre« 

I 



98 Christ raised by the Fower of God. 



eminence. Let us also recognise, with grateful dutj^ 
that authority with which he is invested as head over 
all things unto his church, and yield him that obe- 
dience which he rightfully claims in exclusion of ail 
inferior rulers. Let us remember, at the same time, 
the moving cause of his advancement. It was not 
upon any ground or claim of merits much less of 
equality^ or original deity, which couM not have ad- 
mitted of an increase of dignity, but because he /mm- 
hled himself, and became obedient even unto death, 
that " God his Father hath highly exalted him, and 
given him a name wliich is above every name." It 
was "to this end that Christ both died and rose and 
revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and 
the living.'^ But how could tliis end have been an- 
swered by his death and resurrection, if he were pre- 
viously in possession of such a dignity, as God eter- 
nal and immortal? Nothing can be phiiuer, than that 
it was subsequent to tliese events, that he entered 
upon the kingdom which his Father hath appointed 
unto him, " and he shall reign till he hath put all 
enemies under his feet." It is through his agency 
that the general resurrection will be effected. I 
am," said he, " the resurrection and the life — he that 
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he 
live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
never die." " As the Father hath life in himself, so 
hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." 

Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming when 
all that are in tlie graves shall hear his voice, and 
shall come forth" — The Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven wirh a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
angel, and the trump of Gofi" — the dead shall be 
raised incomiptible" and the living shall be changed* 



Christ raised by the Power of God. 99 



The last, and grandest scene of all, will be that in 
\vhi( h Cljrist shall appear as the Delegate of the su- 
preme Governor of tlie universe, who <^ hatli appoint- 
ed a day in which lie will judge the world in right- 
eousness, by that man whom he liath ordained, 
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in 
that lie iiath raised him from the dead/' Then w ill 
tlie Son of man, to whom the Father hath given au- 
thority to execute judgment, sit on the throne of his 
g]or>. Before him shall be gathered ail nations — ali 
the sons and daughters of Adam, who have either ex- 
isted in ages past, or siiall exist in ages yet to come. 
In this immense congregation, not a single individual 
shall be lost or escape notice. They shall be divided 
into distinct classes, according to their different mo- 
ral characters, and the opportunities for improve- 
ment which they have respectively enjoyed, and re- 
ceive a sentence of righteous retribution. 

Thus, my Christian friends, it must plainly ap- 
pear to you that every circumstance relating to the 
exaltation of Christ, siibsequent to his being laid a 
lifeless corpse in the tomb of Joseph, is attributable, 
not to himself, but to the power and good pleasure of 
his and our heavenly Father; and if I had begun at 
the point of time, when the voice from heaven, ac- 
companied with the descent of a visible glory, pro- 
claimed him the beloved Son of God, in whom he was 
well pleased; and if I had exliibited in order before 
you, the splendour of his miracles, the wisdom of his 
discourses, and every circumstance by which the di- 
vinity of his mission was attested, I must have con- 
tradicted his own most positive and explicit declara- 
tion, if I had attributed them to any iinderived power 
inherent in himself, and not to his who gave him th^ 



100 Christ raised hy the Power of God. 

commandment what he should saj and what he should 
speak, and who by him did the works, whi; h of hrm» 
self he cofdd not have done. Whiie we adhere to the 
axiom, in its unrestricted and authorised sense, that 
al! things are of God~of him only, w^hose is the 
kingdom and the power and the glory our deduc- 
tions are clear, satisfactory, and convincing. The 
moment we abandon it, and admit the notion of a 
plurality of persoiis, or a copartnership in deity, we 
plunge into the deptlis of darkness and error. So 
utterly incompatible are the death and resurrection' 
of Claist with the doctrine of his supreme godliead, 
nn'd consubstantiality with the Father, that for a long 
series of years, subsequent to the broaching of that 
iHiscriptural tenet, and while the dissensions it bred 
continued, this grand basis, upon which we find the 
apostles erected the fabric of Christianity, appears 
to liave been lost sight of. And when, at length, the 
glaring absurdity of deity and death in the same per- 
son was perceived, the till then unthought of expe- 
dient was adopted, of attributing to him a double na- 
ture, which a moment^s calm reflection will discover 
to be utterly subversive of the previous errors of 
equality or co-essentiality, and, if possible, still more 
so of the Athanasian hypothesis with all its distract- 
ing medley of assertions and negations. It would 
seem to be too plain to admit of a question, whether 
that faith which is simple and intelligible, or that 
which is involved in mystery and incongruity, will 
be most influential upon, and best adapted to the no- 
ble powers of the human mind, as formed in the di- 
vine image, and to its native freedom and love of 
truth. On the contrary, it has been taken for grant- 
ed^ that the principles wc profess tend to the destruc- 



Christ raised by the Power of God. 101 

tion of all religion. We have repeatedly had the 
charge of Deism fastened upon us; but certainly by 
those who either knew nothing of our doctrine, or 
were altogether ignorant of the import of the term. 
Be assured, my friends, we are too well aware of 
the wretched, debasing, and comfortless nature of 
deistical notions to admit them into our creed. We 
regard them as unnatural — as counteracting the most 
pleasing hopes, the tenderest affections, and strongest 
desires interwoven with the human constitution. The^ 
deist, in contradistinction indeed from the atheist, 
admits an intelligent cause of all things; but as to a 
future state, if he does not disbelieve it altogether, 
his ideas on the subject are too vague and indistinct 
to produce any elevation of character, or become the 
motive of conduct; and he treats revelation as a fa- 
ble — the mere dream of superstition, or the invention 
of priestcraft, to obtain, for interested purposes, an 
ascendant over the minds of the ignorant multi- 
tude~as too unintelligible and improbable to afford 
any consolation under the evils of life, or support 
under the apprehensions of death. My friends! Let 
me seriously ask you — do you find any resemblance 
between these sentiments and those which have been 
exhibited in the foregoing discourse? As these are in 
honesty and sincerity my own, so I firmly believe 
them to be theirs who are known by the distinctive 
appellation of Unitarians. Let it not be imagined, 
however, that we are actuated by any hot or eager 
zeal for making converts — we are content that the 
progress of truth should be, as in due consistency it 
ouglit, gentle, peaceable, and gradual. As to any 
authoritative imposition upon our fellow citizens of 
opinions which we think ever so correct, we have as 

1 2 



103 Christ raised by the Power of God. 



little of the inrlination as of the power to employ it ; 
and we most emphatically disclaim the idea, that the 
difference of their sentiments from our's will subject 
them to condemnation, at that tribunal, where both 
we and they are to appear. Yet this we think we 
have a right to claim and to irisist upon, that, while 
there Is nothing in our conduct to f*jrl)id it, we be al- 
lowed to take an equal rank, and to be treated with 
the sanie respect as is allowed, by tlie constitution of 
our country, to a!I religious societies in common. — 
To conclude, 

If I have succeeded in niy attempt to give a ra- 
tional, intelligible, aiul consistent vievi^ of this main 
article of gospel faith — ^its connexion with practice, 
and its value, as a motive to frdlow after that holi- 
ness without which no man shall see the Lord, will 
be distinctly perceived ; as well as its total disagree- 
ment with tliose metaphysical subtleties, whicli have 
for ages filled the world with strife and angry de- 
bate, but never made any one of their warmest advo- 
cates a wiser man or a better Christian. 



SERMON VI. 



0>; THE ASCENSION AND EXALTATION OF CHRIST 



Eph. i. 18—23, 

That ye may kno^iv — what is the exceeding' greatness of his power 
towards us who believe, accorditig to the working of his mighty power 
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and 
set him at his own right handy in the heavenly places, far above all 
principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name 
that is named, not only in this world (rather in this age) but that 
which is to come ; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave 
him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, 
the fulness of him that Jilleth all in all. 

That the Christian religion contains some things, 
which being contrary to the known and established 
laws of nature, may at first view create suspicion 
and hesitation, cannot but be acknowledged even by 
its most zealous advocates; and doubts as to its truth 
might reasonably be entertained, if we saw, upon the 
face of the narrative, the marks of disguise or con- 
cealment, or of a design to impose upon the world, 
for divine truth, the reveries of a disordered imagi- 
nation. But whenever we meet with any thing of 
this extraordinary kind, we find it represented as 
taking place, if not before assembled multitudes, at 
least in the presence of witnesses to whose testimony 



104 Ascension and JExaltation of Christ. 



every degree of credit is due, and who could have no 
conceivable motive for propagating an imposture. 
And if the facts are not trifling and unimportant in 
themselves, nor unworthy of the wisdom and good- 
ness of the Deity in the ends they are to answer, we 
cannot question his power to eifect themj for as the 
Author of the established laws of nature, he must be 
competent also to their controul. 

Such is the AscENsiojir or Jesus. Of the evan- 
gelists, Luke, in the conchusion of liis gospel, and the 
beginning of the book of Acts, gives the most parti- 
cular account of it. Mark briefly mentions it. Mat- 
thew and John seem to take the notoriety of the 
transaction for granted ; the former carrying his 
narrative no farther than Ciirist's promise of his 
continued presence with the apostles, and the latter 
only incidentally referring to it in the message sent 
to them by Mary of Magdala — Go to my brethren, 
and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your 
Father, to my God and your God." Direct and fre- 
quent reference is also made to the fa' t, throughout 
the succeeding part of the apostolic history, and the 
epistles. Indeed, so important a plai e does it occupy 
in the gospel system, that it may be said, even as of 
his resurrection — If Christ be not ascended^ our 
faith is vain.'' — But to be more particular— 

Although Christ had appeared, after his resurrec- 
tion, to a very considerable number of his followers, 
it would seem that the apostles only were witnesses 
of his ascension. To them specially were his part- 
ing words addressed, respecting the promise of the 
holy spirit; and that promise having been openly 
accomplished, no other testimony than theirs, to the 
fact of his ascension, was requisite. Accounts have 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 105 



been given of thf* translati()n of heathen heroes and 
otiiers into heaven, hut they cai'sy, upon their very- 
face, evident tokens of their falsity. That of the 
event we are considering, wears, on the contrary^ 
eve!-y mark of truth. Here was no collusion, nothing 
concealed or dubious. It took place in open day — . 
from an eminence, where it couid be plainly and ad- 
vantageously seen, and w hile the attention of the per- 
sons present was closely rivetted upon him — while, 
according to the expression of the evangelist, they 
beheld him, expecting indeed something of a very 
different nature, even Wmi lie was about publicly to 
appear as the restorer of the kingdom to Israel. He 
rose, while in the act of bestowing on them his so- 
lemn benediction—** he lifted up his hat)ds and bless- 
ed them^ — w hile he blessed them, he w^as parted from 
them, and they looked stedfastly toward heaven as 
he went up'' — not in a conflict of the elements, where- 
by their attention might have been distracted and 
iheir senses confounded, but in a slow, gradual, and 
easy manner, till a cloud intercepted him from their 
view. In all this affair there is not the smallest cir- 
cumstance that can denote fraud or deception, but 
every thing to preclude any such idea. And if any 
doubts existed in the minds of such as were not ac» 
tually present, they would in a short time be con- 
vinced that Jesus was not only still living, but capa- 
ble of acting in a more extended sphere than while 
on earth, by the gift of the spirit, poured out on the 
apostles, and communicated to themselves. This 
was the proof to which the apostles constantly and 
universally appealed. Thus Peter to the assembled 
multitude on the day of Pentecost — *« Being by the 
right hand of God exalted^ and having received of 



:i06 Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 

the Father the promise of t!ie holy spirit, he hath 
shed forth this which ye now see and lu^ar.'^ Again 
- — after the cure of the lame man — It is by faith in 
his name, whom the heavens must receive till the 
time of the restitution of all things, that this man is 
made strong.'^ And upon the second appearance of 
the apostles before the Sanhedrim, when they were 
reprimanded for continuing to teach in the name of 
Jesus, they profess their urtshaken aHegiance to that 
God uho had raised him up, and exalted him with 
his right hand, to be a prince and a saviour.'^ Tlius 
we find them, upon every occasion, speaking a?id 
acting with the most perfei t C(iiisistency, as men who 
had the fullest proof, botii mmediate and consequent, 
of the continued existence and virtual presence of 
their master; nor can the argument of Christ's ex- 
altation to glory be evaded but by denying that the 
gifts of the spirit were ever conferred. But a bare 
denial will not satisfy any candid enquirer, and if no 
pro{)f has been or can be given that either is false, we 
must of necessity admit that both are true. 

The fact of Ciirist's ascension being established 
beyond any thing that can wear the face of a rea- 
sonable doubt, an inquisitive mind would naturally 
ask — Where, or what, is that heaven to which Christ 
is gone? What nature does he now sustain? What is 
meant by his sitting at God's right hand? What is 
the kind of power, which he now exercises, and 
which he is to deliver up to the Father, at the final 
consummation of all things? What will be his state 
after that event, and that of his faithful friends and 
ft)llowers, who shall share in his glory? It cannot be 
expected (hat we sIjhH obtain a full insight into these 
things in the present limited condition of our facuK 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 107 



ties — they will, doubtless, be tlie subjects of delight- 
ful meditation when that which is perfect shall come. 
Yet as tiic first attempts of the half-fledged nestling 
strengthen its pinions for more successful efforts and 
a loftier flight, so perhaps we, by the exercise of such 
reasoning powers as we now possess, may be quali- 
fying ourselves for (he easier attainment of higher 
measures of knowledge, and, consequently, for the 
enlargement of our capacities for happiness. We 
will then, 

1.-— Enquire where, or what is that heaven into 
which Christ is said to have ascended or passed ? . 

It would be a hop less undertaking, if we should 
attempt to reconcile ali that we read in the srriptures 
concerning heaven, with the discoveries of modern 
sciejjce; and, to the honour of the latter, it may be 
aflirmed, that we have, by its assistance, obtained 
more just and consistent ideas of the divine power 
and wisdom, than revelation itself has aff<)rded. This 
tells us, indeed, that the Almighty fills heaven and 
earth, and that the heaven of heavens cannot contain 
him — it assists us to form the best conceptions of him 
w e are able to do, as a pure and perfect spirit — eter- 
nal, immortal, invisible; but, perhaps in compassion 
to human frailty, at the same time gives descriptions 
so nearly resembling the splendour and state of an 
earthly monarch, as rather to lower than aggrandise 
the subject. With the enlargement of mind, acquired 
by late additions to human knowledge, we are ena- 
bled to consider the universe irself as the temple of 
the great Creator, and to believe tliat there is no 
part, or portion, or habitable abode within it, wliere 
his glory may not be manifested, and his creatures 
made happy, to the utmost capacitits ot their several 



108 Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 

natures. But when we consider the great variety oT 
senses in nhich the term heaven is applied in the sa- 
cred wririni^s, ixml take it in cofuiexion with the as- 
cension :f Christ, it seems must rational to under- 
stand it as meaning no more, than that he has so 
withdrawn from this earth, as to have no visible con- 
nexion v\ith it, and subsists in a manner, to us ne- 
cessarily unknown — but still at no immeasurable dis- 
tance fr(im it, nor such as may not admit of his pro- 
per concern in its affairs, although in a w ay of w liich 
wc understand as littie as of the agency of God's ge- 
neral providence. Something of tiiis kind, on which 
however 1 am far from pretending to speak confi- 
dently, I think, must be admitted, to account for the 
facts related of his appearances to Paul and others 
aftrT his ascension, and to establish the pr<>priety 
and applicability of many expressions in the aposto- 
lic writings. But, 

2. — If this be tlie proper view^ to be entertained 
concerning heaven, how shall w-e reconcile it with 
the accounts given us of the celestial glory of Christ, 
and his occupying a place in the immediate presence 
of God ? 

Wherever or however it be that Christ now exists, 
there can be no doubt but he enjoys the immediate 
and plenary commuMications of the divine presence 
and favour, which cannot be considered as confined 
to one part of space more than to another. It is 
equally certain, that at the time of his departure from 
earth, his nature must have undergone a great and 
important change. After his resurrection^ he retain- 
ed all the substantial characteristics of an human 
body, but at his ascension, he must have acquired 
the capacity of existing in a mode entirely different. 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 109 

Gravitation must, with respect to him, at that mo- 
ment have lost its power, and an inconceivable re- 
finement of his material frame must have succeeded* 
To this we may reasonably suppose Paul to refer, 
when he speaks of the change to take place in our 
bodies at the resurrection. ^' Tliere is," says he, a 
natural body, and there is a spiritual body." And, 
as it was foretold at the ascension of Jesus, that he 
should so come in like manner as he was then seen 
to go into heaven, so the apostle tells the Philippians, 
that believers look for that event, when the Lord Je- 
sus Christ " shall change their vile body, that it may 
be fashioned like unto his glorious body.^^ There is 
nothing in this at which human philosophy, which 
has often been represented as the parent of infidelity, 
need to be startled, or to sneer at as absurd or im- 
possible. The modern discoveries in chemistry clear- 
ly prove, that matter, at one time in a condensed, 
visible, and tangible form, may at another become so 
expanded as to occupy a space inconceivably greater 
—so subtile, as to be no longer an object of sight — 
so rarefied, as not to be perceptible by the touch. 
And if it has pleased the Almighty to communicate 
intelligence to matter under one form, it cannot be 
denied that it may also be his pleasure to communi- 
cate, or continue, or increase it, to the same matter 
under any other or more advantageous modification. 
These things I mention to show the reasonableness 
of believing, that there may be such a refinement of 
the material body of Christ, as to justify all the high 
expressions which are used concerning him in his 
exalted state, and as to render him capable of per- 
forming the important functions to which God his 
Father hath appointed him. And, as I trust all this 

K 



110 Ascension and Eocaltation of Christ. 

will be allowed to be rational^ so it will be easily per* 
ceived to be consistent with those ideas which Uni- 
tarians entertain concerning the person of Christ 
However sublimated, into whatever different forms 
changed, or with whatever powers endowed, matter 
can never become essentially spirit, or be one with 
it in such a sense as the orthodox creed affirms. Je- 
sus is still a derived and dependent being. Be his 
present ever so superior to his former state, be his 
glories ever so resplendent, they are all given, and 
cannot raise him to an equality with the Giver. 
Our next head of inquiry then will be, 
S. — What is meant by Christ's sitting at God^s 
right hand? 

This is one of those figurative expressions so 
much in use in the East, and which we meet with so 
frequently in the scriptures. The right hand, in its 
most common metaphorical acceptation, signifies 
strength or power, and so the effects of the omnipo- 
tence of the Deity are ascribed to his right hand. In 
allusion to this, when a sovereign prince invested 
any one with authority over provinces or other parts 
of his dominions, he placed him at his right hand in 
token of favour— as a public notification of his ad- 
vancement to that high dignity, and of the confidence 
reposed in him. On this subject I need say but 
little. It cannot be necessary to enter into a formal 
argument to convince my audience that by Christ's 
sitting or standing at the right hand of God, nothing 
more can be intended than that he hath invested his 
beloved son Jesus with a pre-eminent degree of 
power and authority, resembling, though entirely 
subordinate, to his own* His original, uncreated 
glory, his sovereign and absolute dominion^ he nei- 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. Ill 

ther can nor will give to any other. The very term 
— the expression itself, (the being placed at the right 
hand of power) implies inferiority, and carries with 
it as complete a refutation as can be imagined of the 
strange notion of Christ's supreme deity, I would 
also, by the way, farther remark, that if Christ had 
possessed a pre-existent dignity — if he was, under 
God, the Creator of the universe, and upheld aU 
things^ in the unrestricted sense of that phrase, by 
the word of his power, and if the glory he received 
upon his ascension were absolutely the same which 
he possessed with the Father before the world was, 
he miglit, with equal propriety, have been described 
as seated at his right hand, previous to his appear- 
ance in human form — but of this we find not the least 
intimation given, either before or afterwards. Let it 
be moreover considered, that every circumstance re- 
ferable to the mediation of Christ, which was com- 
plete on the ground alone of his proper humanity, 
must have been necessarily confined to this world of 
our^s, which is such a mere speck in the creation- 
such an atom, that if, together with the whole system 
to which it belongs, it were annihilated, the blank 
would not be perceived. And if Christ were invest- 
ed with the entire sovereignty of it, and he were, in 
this sense, God over all," his title would not inter« 
fere with that of the blessed and only Potentate'^ — 
the distance would still be infinite and inconceivable 
between him and the Eternax Jehovah, the great 
Lord and Ruler of innumerable worlds, who is pre- 
sent in them all, and watches, with paternal care, 
over all their infinitely various interests. It follows, 
that upon the supposition of Christ's possessing such 
a high, but at the same time delegated authority, we 



lis .Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 

should not be justified in paying him divine and equal 
honours. Wliatever respect might be paid to a vice- 
gerent when the sovereign is absent, the same would 
be improper in his presence. But God the Father is 
always present — in all things superior and supreme j 
and the interposition of Christ, with all irs conse- 
quences both as to himself and to mankind, had its 
origin in the love, and is to terminate in the glory of 
the Father. Let us then, 

^. — Inquire into the true nature and extent of that 
authority with which the great Sovereign of all hath 
invested the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The exercise of power, conferred by a superior, 
may be reasonably expected to bear an appropriate 
analogy to the source from whence it is derived j 
and, in this respect, Christ might be justly said^ du- 
ring his continuance on earth, to have been in the 
form of God. He enforced obedience to the divine 
law — forgave sins, exercised creative powers, stilled 
tempests, penetrated into the secret thoughts of men, 
restored the sick to health, and the dead to life.— 
But, distinguishing as these honours wei^e, they were 
only a prelude to those more transcendent glories, 
which crowned his obedience unto death, and suc- 
ceeded his release from the prison of the tomb. His 
personal ministry was limited to a small district, 
and, in human estimation, all that he had said and 
done, was likely to be buried in oblivion, when he 
was left in the hands of his enemies, and became the 
victim of their malice and cruelty. But this was the 
beginning of his triumph, and the extension of his 
authority. No longer subject to any of the laws by 
which the natural course of things in this lower 
sphere is regulated, and laying aside the grosser veil 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 113 

of flesh and blood, he was exalted to a nearer resem- 
blance of the divine perfections, and obtained a still 
more excellent name. He becriOie the depositary of 
the Father's authority in such instances as the fol- 
lowing. Those extraordinary influences of the spi- 
rit, which, under prior dispensations, were imme- 
diately conferred by God himself, were now placed 
at the disposal of Christ, and displayed in a more il- 
lustrious manner. Seldom, if ever, had more than 
one patriarch or prophet appeared, at one time, with- 
out authentic testimonials of a divine commission. 
Upon the exaltation of Christ, twelve were desig- 
nated to the oflice at once, with the faculty of impart- 
ing their qualifications to others; when he ascended 
on high, he bestowed, with princely munificence, the 
gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and 
teachers. God possesses universal dominion over aZi 
worlds — the kingdoms of this world shall become the 
kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, He is also 
prepared, by his exaltation, for the exercise of high 
and most important functions in the subsequent pe- 
riods of the divine government, introductory to the 
consummation of all things. The sovereign Arbiter 
of life and death, who at his pleasure introduces hu- 
man beings upon this sublunary stage, and commands 
their exit, has committed to his Son, who is not the 
less on this account the Son of man, the power of re* 
calling all that are in the graves to life, and con- 
vening them before his tribunal — has invested him 
with the authority of executing judgment, and deter- 
mining their future condition, according to their dif- 
ferent characters. And what an amazing extent and 
exertion of knowledge does this imply ! If this awful 
proceeding is to take place, in a manner at all re- 

K 2 



114: Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 

sembling that in which hi^nself hath represented it, 
he must, as far as respects the affairs and persons of 
this world be omni^dent. He who gives him the 
commission will furnish him with abilities for fulfill- 
ing it. But, surely, the solemnities of that day will 
bear very little analogy to those of a terrestrial court 
of judicature. The Judge will not need testimony to 
inform him of the truth, or to direct him as to the 
course to be taken. He will discriminate between 
those w ho stand at his bar, as easily as a shepherd 
does between the sheep and the goats, and make the 
separation accordingly. He must, consequently, pos- 
sess an intuitive knowledge of the thoughts of the 
heart, and the actions of the life, of every individual. 
He must be able to determine, at once, the measure 
of allowance to be made for difference of age, of na- 
tural temper, of advantages for obtaining a know- 
ledge of duty. He must be able to adjust that pre- 
ponderance in mixed characters which shall bring 
them under the denomination of good or evil, and 
proportion their state accordingly. Such is the vast 
extent of that authority with which the Most High 
hath invested the Captain of our salvation. He hath 
indeed given him a name that is above every name. 
His title to the kingdom is unquestionably derived 
from the infinite Source of all power, and it be- 
comes us to pay him a willing and unreserved obe- 
dience — to honour the Son as we honour the Fa- 
ther, who sanctions all his laws with his sovereign 
fiat. 

With their mirtds fully possessed by these sublime 
ideas concerning the glorified state of their Master, 
and, doubtless, with much stronger and more lively 
conceptions of it than we can form, it is no wonder 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 115 



that we find the apostles expressing themselves con- 
cerning him in terms of lofty and energetic import j 
but it is surprising that any of them should have 
been misconstrued as implying his supreme and in- 
dependent deity. Not only are we informed, by 
matiy declarations equally decisive as those of our 
text, that all his authority is conferred by Him whose 
is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever 
and ever, but that it shall one day be laid aside. This 
is utterly unintelligible with reference to any thing 
but that office which he sustains as head over the af- 
fairs of his church, and which must of course deter- 
termine when the scheme of the divine providence 
respecting it is complete, and when all things (in this 
more limited sense of the term) shall be subdued unto 
him. When this is done, then shall the Son also him- 
self be subject to Him who had put all things under 
him ; so that if the equality, so positively asserted, 
had ever subsisted, a period is approaching when it 
shall subsist no longer. But the Son was never 
otherwise than subject, if we may believe the apos- 
tle, who says, that whereas all things are put under 
him, it is manifest that he is excepted who did put all 
things under him— and the powt?r, thus delegated, 
shall be returned into the hands of him who confer- 
red it, there being no longer any occasion for its ex- 
ercise. It is supposed by some, that there will be an 
intermediate period, when Christianity shall be uni- 
versally prevalent, and great peace and happiness 
shall be experienced through all the habitable earth. 
Into the debates which, I believe, have taken place 
iamong the learned, upon the subject of the miile- 
nium, I have never entered ; but I readily admit the 



116 Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 

probability of such an event, from the general tenor 
of prophecy, the benign spirit of our holy religion, 
and the apparent tendency of human affairs, w hich 
presents, on a comparison of ancient with modern 
times, a vast addition to the knowledge, the im- 
provement, and the happiness of mankind. Let us, 

5. — In the last place, endeavour to form some 
idea of the subsequent state of our glorified Lord, 
and of those who shall be accounted wortliy to ob- 
tain that hetter world by the resurrection from the 
dead, 

I wish not to appear wise above that which is 
written; but if we can make what little is revealed, 
consistent with what we know to be philosophic 
truth, or with what we have reason to consider as 
sucli, we do honour, at once, to science, and to the 
scriptures. 

It is sufficiently clear, that in whatever form Christ 
now exists, it shall be, at his second coming, such as 
to admit of a resemblani e and similitude, in that, 
which they who are to enter into life eternal, will 
wear. To the passage which I formerly quoted, re- 
specting the change to be effected in the present ab- 
ject fabric of their bodies, namely, that they may 
be fashioned like to his glorious body, may be added 
others from the same authority — As we have borne 
the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image 
of the heavenly^'—" When Christ who is our life 
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in 
glory.'' To the same purpose the apostle John — 
It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but w^e 
know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like 
him, for we shall see him as lie is/'~that is, as he 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. II7 

then is; like him, completely exempt from all the 
sorrows of humaiiity — from the pains and weak- 
nesses of a frail body, possessed of a constitution 
which shall never be subject to the attacks of dis- 
ease, nor the stroke of death, and susceptible of 
every possible kind and degree of felicity, arising 
from the immediate contemplation of the divine per- 
fections, the society of wise, holy, and happy beings, 
of all whom we have loved and esteemed w hile in the 
flesh, and especially of our great forerunner, who 
was made perfect through sufferings, that he might 
become the author and pattern of eternal salvation. 
But where will be the scene of all this blessedness? 
Doubtless, somewhere within the bounds of the visi- 
ble creation of God. The world we now inhabit, 
without a great and important change, it cannot be 
*^but, with such a change as may suit the improved 
and glorified state of its inhabitants, it certainly 
may. It was once, we may well suppose, adapted 
for the residence of happy and immortal beings. By 
an alteration, of which we can form no adequate 
idea, it has become otherwise. By another, no less 
within the compass of divine power to effect, it may 
recover its original properties, and be that very hea- 
ven, where, in the eternal counsels of God, are laid 
up for them that love him, things « which eye hath 
not seen, nor ear heard, and which it hath not en- 
tered into the heart of man to conceive.'^ Paul, in- 
deed, tells the Thessalonians, that when the dead in 
Christ are risen, then they w^iich are alive and re- 
main shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.'' This may 
very consistently be supposed to be the case, during 



118 Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 

the interval requisite for effecting the change al- 
luded to (by what means I pretend not to conjec- 
ture), «• and so," or from thenceforth, they « shall 
be ever with the Lord.'' To this purjMise, namely, 
of a change to be effected, the apostles Peter and 
Jfihn express themselves, when they speak of new 
heavens and a new earth — that is, a new appear- 
ance, of every thing above and around, as well as 
of natural and moral temperament, when the former 
things shall have passed away. Whether I meet 
with your indulgence in bringing forward the sub- 
ject under this form 1 know not — -but it appears to 
me more consistent, both with reason and revela- 
tion, than that which supposes some region beyond 
the sky and above the stars, as the common expres- 
sion is, to which we cannot affix such an idea of sub- 
stantiality, or locality, as to make it real, and which 
sound philosophy cannot but reject You must have 
perceived, in the greater part of this discourse, 
many departures from commonly received opinions, 
yet such as are consistent with our principles as 
Unitarian Christians. If they afford more solid and 
satisfactory ground of faith and consolation, than 
those from which, it may be, some of us have de- 
parted, we ought to value them the more ; particu- 
larly, it ought to exalt our hope and our joy, to re- 
jflect that God not only can, but that having done it 
in the instance of Christ, he will raise and refine 
(not the divine or superangelic, but) the human na- 
ture, so as to qualify if for unknown and inconceiva- 
ble measures of felicity and glory. Warmed with 
the contemplation, let us, while sojourners in these 
abodes of frailty and imperfection, and where our 



Ascension and Exaltation of Christ. 119 



largest views are so confined, begin those songs of 
praise, which we hope will be the employment of 
perfected faculties, of immortal tongues, of eternal 
ages. Thanks, everlasting thanks, be to God who 
hath given us this victory, in our risen, our as- 
cended, our glorified Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 
Amen* 



SERMON VII. 



EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE APOSTLES.— 
ITS CONSEQUENCES.— ERRORS AND ABUSES WHICH 
HAVE BEEN ENGRAFTED ON IT.— EXPLANATION OF 
THE TERM SPIRIT. 



Acts, ii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 

And when the day of Pentecost ivas fidly cojne, they were all with 
me accord in one place; 

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing 
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting; 

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and 
it sat upon each of them. 

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and bega^i to speak 
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

It must afford great satisfaction to every sincere, 
candid, and unprejudiced inq^uirer into the truth of 
Cliristianity, to find how few and siro| le, how well 
established and incontcstible, are the main founda- 
tions on whif h it rests j and yet that they are of a 
nature so astonishing, and so far out of the usual 
course and order of events, as evidently to prove an 
immediate divine interposition — as to show that hu- 
man ingenuity, fraud, or folly, had nothing to do 
with its institution or propagation ; and that, wear- 
ing the indubitable impress of the hand of God, its 
claim to the highest regard, and the most diligent 



123 Effusion of the Spirit, ^c. 



attention of mankind, is thereby fully established. 
The more accurately it is examined in this point of 
view, the more convincingly will the faith of the 
Christian appear to stand, not in the wisdom of men^ 
but in the power of God— that is, not in abstruse spe- 
culations, visionary notions, or fine-spun theories, 
such as the heathen philosophers propounded to their 
disciples; neither in such as, in too dose an imita- 
tion of their example. Christian scholiasts have laid 
down as indispensably necessary to an orthodox be- 
lief, but in objects really discernible by the senses, 
and either of public notoriety, or attested by wit- 
nesses who have given indisputable proofs of their 
honesty and credibility ; such, in fact, as they whose 
inclination and whose interest it was to bring them 
into discredit, have never been able to falsify ; — and 
these are, the public designation of Jesus as the Mes- 
siah, the Christ, or the Son of God, (which are all 
equivalent titles) his miracles wrought in conse- 
quence thereof — his actual and unequivocal death — . 
his resurrection — ^his ascension — and the pouring 

FORTH OE THE HOLY SPIRIT UPOX THE APOSTLES. 

These enter into, and form, the main body of Chris- 
tian truth ; they are its sum and substance ; the con- 
sequences to be drawn from them are direct and ob- 
vious ; and such as affect the most important interests 
of mankind, whether relating to their present or their 
future happiness — it is to the last of these circum- 
stances, as recorded in the text, that 1 now wish to 
call your attention. 

This event, our Lord had frequently, towards the 
latter part of his ministry, taught his disciples to ex- 
pect. Its reality rests upon the same testimcmy as 
the whole gospel history. To show that it is desti- 



Effusion of the Spirit^ 8^c. 123 



tute of foundation, the liistorj itself must be proved 
fabulous, which has never yet been, nor ever can be 
done. Let us then consider how peculiarly proper 
an<l necessary it was, that the immediate power of 
God should be thus exerted, on an occasion of such 
vast importance to the happiness of his rational off- 
sprin.s^, as the establishment and propagation of 
Christianity. 

The first remarkable effect of the pouring forth of 
the spirit, was the communication to the apostles of 
the ability to speak, with fluency and propriety, in 
lan.^rMiiges wiiirh they had never learned; and the 
a-lvantage to be derived from it was great and most 
apparent. The event took place at one of the prin- 
cipal Jewish festivals, when there were at Jerusalem 
devout men out of every nation under heaven, where 
any Jews resided. All these heard, every one in their 
own tongues, the apostles speaking of " the wonder- 
ful works of God.'* These, we may easily suppose, 
were the accomplishment of ancient prophecies, the 
character and kingdom of the Messiah, the doctrines 
he taught, the mighty w^orks which God did by him, 
his resurrection, his ascension, and his appointment 
to be the judge of the world. And thus was that pro- 
mise of Christ to the apostles fulfilled — that they 
should be « witnesses unto him not only in Jerusa- 
lem, and Judea, and Samaria, but to the uttermost 
parts of the earth,'^ Thus the gospel was at once 
revealed to every nation; and these strangers, at 
their return home, would become preachers of it, 
and lay a foundation for converting the world to the 
knowledge and worship of the one living and true 
God. Another wonderful consequence of this divine 
communication, was, the courage with which it in- 



lS4f Effusion of the Spirit, ^c. 



spired the apostles ; a company of men who but a 
few days before, when they saw their master in the 
hands of his enemies, all forsook him and fled. In- 
stead of repeating such pusillanimous conduct, we 
now find them vindicating his claim to be the Mes- 
siali — charging the guilt of his murder upon its per- 
petrators — asserting his resurrection from the dead, 
and appealing to what was now seen and heard as 
evidence of the fact. The like boldness was mani- 
fested, and similar language held by Peter and John, 
when examined before the council, touching the cure 
wrought upon the lame beggar at the gate of the 
temple. And when, unable to say any thing against 
it, but dreading the consequences of an influence 
which might be thus acquired among the people, 
they commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach 
in the name of Jesus, they nobly replied — « Whether 
it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you 
more than unto God, judge ye; for we cannot but 
speak the things which we have seen and heard.'* 
Thus, in the face of threatening, in spite of sufiering, 
and in the certainty of detection if their assertions 
were unfounded, did they discharge the commission 
their Lord had given them, and by virtue of the 
powers with which they were invested. 

Finally, if the divine wisdom was conspicuous in 
conferring miraculous gifts on the apostles, for the 
confirmation and speedy difl'usion of the gospel, we 
must see the like propriety in not confining their 
exercise to them alone, but in admitting others to a 
participation of them, till such time as the end pro- 
posed should be fully answered. 

Various and conclusive were the reasons why thes 
extraordinary powers should cease in an early age 



Effusion of the Spirit, 8fc. 125 

of the Christian church. Having roused mankind 
from the torpor into which idolatry, ignorance, and 
vice had sunk them, and called, irresistibly, their at- 
tention to the doctrines of the gospel, their imme- 
diate purpose was answered ; and it was suflScient 
for posterity that authentic records of them should 
be preserved; for, had they continued, they would 
no longer have been considered otherwise than as 
matters of course, which would excite no uncommon 
degree of regard. We see also in Simon the magi- 
cian an early instance of the disposition there was, 
in worldly-minded men, to convert the supposed pos- 
session of them to base and avaricious purposes. It 
is notorious that the clerical character, asserted to 
have been derived by lineal descent from the apos- 
tles, has laid claim to an inheritance of their supe- 
rior illumination and authority; and, in the church 
of Rome, has laid the foundation of an enormous 
mass of abuses and corruptions. And scarcely in 
others, who assume the title of Reformed, are pre« 
tensions to extraordinary spiritual endowments aban- 
doned. And although, perhaps, it would not, at this 
day, be seriously contended that imposition of hands 
does really convey any qualifications which were not 
antecedently possessed, it is still retained, w ith a ma- 
nifest allusion to the gift which Paul tells Timothy 
was imparted to him by prophecy, " with the laying- 
on of the hands of the presbytery.'^ Hence also the 
power, still claimed, to decree rites and ceremonies, 
and to regulate the articles, and decide in controver- 
sies of faith, grounded on that passage at the end of 
Matthew's gospel — « Lo, I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world.'' But it ought to be 
known to those who make this appeal (and to every 

L 2 



1S6 l^ffusion of the Spirity 8^c. 



one else— and one can scarcely imagine that the re- 
verend and learned translators themselves should 
have been ignorant) that this is not the real meaning. 
It is not to the end of the worldf but of the age, or, as 
we are authorised to conclude from fact, and from 
the corresponding passage in Mark, the period du- 
ring which miraculous powers were to continue in 
the church.^ 

Another error, and that of a very serious nature, 
arising from the supposed continuance of extraordi- 
nary influences, is, that such internal illuminations 
Lave been thought to supersede the use of that reve- 
lation which we possess in the books of scripture ; 
and this has actually occasioned expressions of a very 
contemptuous kind for those inestimable oracles. So 
that it would seem as if these persons had learned, 
from the bible itself, to undervalue the bible. The 
spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." I reverence 
it as of his kindling ; and when fed with the oil of di- 
vine revelation, it burns with that clear and steady 
light which cannot fail of conducting him to truth 
and happiness. But, certainly, we have no facts be- 
fore us to authorise the conclusion that it is now to 
be received by immediate couimunications from hea- 
ven. It is abundantly suflicient for us to know that 
auch has been the case, and to be assured of it by au- 

* Good Doctor Doddridge seems to have been aware on what 
disadvantageous ground the true translation of this passage 
would place the claims of the clerical order. He therefore ad» 
Jieres to the common version, and adds (somewhat peevishly) in 
a note, taking the thing to be proved for granted, " As Christ's 
presence with his surviving apostles was as necessary after the 
destruction of Jerusalem as before it, nothing seems more un- 
reasonable than to limit these word» by such an interpretation." 



Effusion of the Spirit ^ S^c. 127 



thentic and indubitable testimony. To these records 
let us adhere; and make the noblest and best use of 
our reason, by diligently studying them, and endea- 
vouring to become acquainted with their true im- 
port. Between the wild ideas I have just now men- 
tioned, and absolute infidelity, there seems to be but 
a single stepj so nearly do extremes approach each 
other. 

To some notion, however indistinct, of the conti- 
nuance of spiritual suggestions, is to be ascribed the 
fondness of several difierent sects of Christians for 
extemporaneous effusions, both in prayer and preach- 
ing. While many, at least, of these do not afford, 
either in matter or manner, any unequivocal proofs 
of a supernatural origin, it cannot be denied, that 
when delivered with ability and correctness, they 
have greatly the advantage over precompositions, in 
fixing the attention of an audience. On the other 
hand it must be granted that the latter, particularly 
as applied to discourses, have the advantage in the 
use they may be of to posterity, while the benefits of 
the most eloquent extempore address are confined to 
the immediate hearers. 

Before I proceed further to notice the errors and 
abuses which have been engrafted upon, and have 
grown up from, this principal article of Cliristiaa 
faith, and to show what I conceive to be the proper 
views, which, in present circumstances we ought to 
entertain of divine influence and assistance. I ap- 
prehend it will be proper to fix the true meaning of 
the term Spirit, as we find it in the sacred writings. 
It is used there in a great variety of senses, to par- 
ticularise which, would lead me far beside my pre- 
sent purpose. 1 shall merely observe, that when ap- 



438 Effusion of the Spirit^ 8fc. 

plied to the nature of the divine Being, it is used in 
an absolute sense, as, God is a spirit.'' But the 
terra Spirit of God" is relative only, and is always 
to be understood of a sensible mode by which we are 
enabled to form some ideas of his attributes. « The 
invisible things of him are understood by the things 
that are made, even his eternal power and godhead/' 
So that the definition which appears to me to accord 
with most, if not with all expressions of this kind, 

is, THE VISIBLE EFFECT OF AIST INVISIBLE CAUSE. 

To this, the term itself, in the original language, 
seems strictly applicable. Our English word spirit 
is derived from the Latin spirituSf in which, and in 
the Greek, it signifies breath or wind, which is the 
object of the senses of hearing and feeling only. « The 
wind," says our Saviour to Nicodemus, "bloweth 
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, 
but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it 
goeth— so is every one that is born of the spirit." 
The effects only, not the cause^ are presented to our 
sight— ^to is kept out of sensible view, and is only 
to be discovered by the exercise of reason. So that 
by the word spirit^ in its relative sense, we are clear- 
ly to understand, the mind, the will, the purpose of 
God, of man, or of any other intelligent agent, ma- 
nifesting itself by its effects.— We are at present to 
confine our consideration of it to the agency of the 
Divine Being. 

This agency is expressed by several different 
terms, but all of synonymous import, such as, the 
voire — ^the word — the breath — the spirit of the Lord. 
^^The voice of the L<»rd is upon the waters — is pow- 
erful— divideth the flames of fire—shaketh the wil- 



Effusion of the Spirit, &;c. 129 



derness— maketh the hinds to calve."^ "By the 
word of the Lord were the heavens made — by the 
word of God the heavens were of old— his word run- 
neth very swiftly — he sendeth out his word and melt- 
eth them — stormy wind fulfilling his word/' God 
breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life — the 
breath of the Almighty hath given him life — by the 
breath of God frost is given— all the host of heaven 
were made by the breath of his mouth/' <^ The spu 
rit of God moved upon the face of the waters — thou 
sendest forth thy spirit, they are created — the spirit 
of God is in my nostrils — the spirit of God hath 
made me — by his spirit he garnished the heavens — 
he telleth the number of the stars, he calleth them all 
by names." What is it but the same almighty, ever 
active Spirit, which directs the various and stupen- 
dous processes, continually carrying on in the seve- 
ral elements — which preserves unbroken the innu- 
merable links in the chain of being — keeps distinct, 
without confusion or intermixture, the innumerable 
tribes of animals — furnishes each with its peculiar 
instincts and powers for answering the ends of ex- 
istence, providing them liberally with the means of 
enjoyment; and what are all the rational faculties of 
the human race, but the spirit which the Almighty 
hath put in man, and his inspiration which hath given 
him understanding? It is his breath that fans the 
flame of life — it is his all-actuating impulse that 
heaves our lungs, and propels the vital fluid through 
every vein and artery — motions, which, though ab- 

* If it be supposed that by the voice of the Lord, in these in- 
stances, is meant thunder, still they are the visible effects of an 
invisible cause. 



130 Effusion of the Spirit, ^c. 



solutely necessary to our existence, are not at our 
own command, and carried on with perfect regula- 
rity, during the unconscious hours of sleep. 'Tis the 
hand of the great Artificer that adjusts every part of 
this delicate, curi >us, and complicated machine — that 
keeps in tune this harp of thousand strings.'' In 
the sublime and expressive language of the apostle, 
it is " in him we live and move and have our being.'* 
And if, from this little spot of earth, and the system 
of which it is a part, I could carry you through the 
infinite multitude of worlds with which universal 
space is replenished — could 1 open to your view their 
various magnitudes, revolutions, relations and as- 
pects — could I describe to you the different species 
of beings which inhabit them, their forms, powers, 
and capacities, you would still behold the uninter- 
rupted operations and influences of the same all- 
creating, all-animating, all-preserving and omnipre- 
sent Spirit; but the Great Agent himself would 
still be invisible, although, in some more highly fa- 
voured regions of his boundless dominion, a brighter 
revelation of his glory might be made than in others. 
And if he were to withdraw or suspend his all-sus- 
taining energy, what an hideous mass of confusion, 
destruction and death, would all creation become ! — 
We should in one moment behold « the wrecks of 
matter and the crush of worlds,'' and the next be 
ourselves involved in the universal catastrophe. And 
if, in this view of our subject, we advert to the scrip- 
tural application of the term power, we shall find 
that It means exactly the same thing as spirit. ^< He 
divideth the sea with his power — the thunder of his 
power who can understand — who setteth fast the 
mountains, being girded with power — praise him in^ 



Effusion of the Spirit^ 8^c. 131 



the firmament of his power— he made the earth by 
his power— he bringeth forth the host of heaven by 
number^ and it is because he is strong in power that 
not one of them faileth.'* 

It cannot have escaped your notice, that all the 
instances I have now adduced from scripture, of ef- 
fects, of which the cause is invisible, relate to what 
we behold, either constantly or occasionally, in the 
works of nature; either to creation itself, or to the 
general course of things, established from the begin- 
ning. These, therefore, may be properly d* n >mi- 
nated the ordinary operations of the spirit, or ent rgy 
of God. But, on examination, we shall find that t!»e 
same terms — voice^ breathy word^ spirit, power^ are 
also applied to things out of the common course of 
nature, and which may properly be deemed extraor- 
dinary, although equally easy to omnipotence ; for, 
notwithstanding this diversity, the spirit is the same. 
Thus a voice from heaven delivered the prei eprs of 
the decalogue, accompanied the descent of the spirit 
on Jesus at his baptism, and bore testimony to him 
on the mount of transfiguration. The word of the 
Lord was the intimation of his will, and the evidence 
of their mission, to the prophets. Moses, in his song 
of triumph after the passage of the Red sea, saj'S— 
<^ With the blast of thy nostrils the waters were ga- 
thered together.'^ The extraordinary judgments, to 
be inflicted on offending nations, are describe d by 
Isaiah, as a pile ready to be kindled bv the breath of 
the Lord, as a stream of brimst(me. Christ breathed 
on his disciph s, as an intimation of the manrier irt 
which they were to receive the spirit; and almost 
every extraordinary effi)rt, whether of body or mind, 
made by men, and which was evidently beyond the 



13S Effusion of the Spirit, ^c. 



usual limits of the human faculties, is ascribed to the 
spirit of the Lord which came upon them. In very 
many passages of the New Testament, the operations 
of the holy spirit are expressl}' denominated, or clear- 
ly implied, to be the power of God. The multitude, 
w hen they saw the sick of the palsy healed, glori- 
fied God who had given such power unto men.'' At 
the cure of the epileptic all were amazed at the 
mighty power of God." The power of the Lord was 
present to heal them. Tarry at Jerusalem until ye 
be endued with power from on high. God anointed 
Jesus with the holy spirit and with power. God hath 
given us the spirit of power, &c.'* As to the differ- 
ent terms made use of, that is to say, the spirit of the 
Lordf the spirit^ and the holy spirit^ it may suffice to 
observe that the first is chiefly used, when it is in- 
troduced in relation to things not immediately con- 
nected with the manifestation of the divine will, or 
the revelation of the gospel, but it is in general 
otherwise with respect to the two latter, and in al- 
most every instance where the epithet holy has oc- 
curred, which it does most frequently in the book of 
the Acts, our early English translators, instead of 
the title spirit^ chose to adopt that of ghost^ probably 
because, being persuaded that the holy spirit was a 
person, and believing in the reality of apparitions, 
they thought this term more suitable, as a ghost was 
supposed to represent the person of the deceased. It 
is full time to lay aside such an antiquated and un- 
meaning word. It has been very properly dropped 
by all late translators, even of orthodox sentiments, 
for the original word is every where the same. It 
must have been through a strong and strange preju- 
dice that the notion of the spirit's personality should 



Effusion of the Spirit, ^c. 13S 

erer have been entertained at all. It is true that 
Christ does, in parabolical and figurative language, 
represent it as a comforter to supply to his apostles 
the want of his personal presence, or an advocate to 
enable them to defend and promote his cause, but he 
also represents it as a gift bestowed on them by the 
Father for his sake, with which idea, that of a person 
is, in this application of it, utterly incompatible. It 
is also true that several personal acts are ascribed 
to the spirit, such as speaking, testifying, witnessing^ 
&c. but these were all the effect of internal sugges- 
tions to the mind of the person under this extraordi- 
nary influence, nor will it he pretended that there 
was any speaking or acting otherwise than through 
the medium of human organs. On the like prinriple 
we may account for the spirit's forbidding or not suffer- 
ing certain intentions or proceedings. It is however 
sufficiently clear that the persons, under the spirit's 
influence, were not converted by it into mere ma- 
chines I for we meet with the exhortatioUvS — " Quench 
not the spirit"— grieve not the spirit." We also 
read of those who sinned wilfully after receiving the 
knowledge of the truth, and did despite to the spirit 
of grace. It seems too that at Corinth, where spiri- 
tual gifts were possessed in great variety, an impro- 
per use was often made of them. So that the words 
of Christ might be exactly verified, and those who 
had prophesied in his name, and in his name had cast 
out dsemons, and done many wonderful works, might 
be of the number, to whom he will say, « I never 
knew you — depart from me ye workers of iniquity.'^ 
In short, the scriptures give no countenance to the 
notion of distinct personality in the holy spirit, un« 
less forced to do so by the perverse humour of inter- 



134 Effusion of the Spirit^ § 



preting literaHy what was evidently intended figu- 
ratively— it therefore stands exactly upon the same 
ground as transuhstantiation itself; and with just as 
much reason might we consider the spirit of a man 
to be distinct from the man himself, when we read, 
iiihe spirit of my understanding cau.^eth me to an- 
swer — the spirit within me constraineth me— the spi- 
rit of a man wiil sustain his infirmity — a man that 
liath no rule over his owii spirit — an excellent spirit 
was found in Danie!/^ and many other phrases of 
similar import, 

- How then (it may be asked with surprise) did it 
come to pass that the spirit was not only considered 
as a person^ hut erected into a divinity^ equal with 
the Father and the Son — with them conjointly, and 
severally worshipped, and with them constituting 
one God? What, alas! shall we answer, but that the 
same Spirit spake expressly, that in the latter times 
some should depart from the faith, giving heed to se- 
ducing spirits? Such an expression as " God the holy 
Ghost," is not once to be found in the scriptures — ■ 
nothing like divine worship, paid or to be paid, to 
any such imaginary personage ! Yet in these enlight- 
ened days, petitions for mercy are addressed, and 
glory appropriately ascribed to it; it is asserted in 
the solemn offices of devotion, in direct contradiciion 
to fact, that it was so from the beginning, and it is 
also declared, in violation of all probability, that it 
s!mll so continue for ever! To the authority by which 
this is pronounced, we must, my friends, of necessity 
demur. We cannot, we dare not, confound the elfVct 
with the cause. To the One Etebnai-. and Infi- 
nite SiJPREME—tlie fountain of all intelligence and 
activity ™the Great First Cause, from whom all 



Effusion of the Spirit^ ^c. 



139 



other causes and effects, wlietlier within or witho'.it 
the ordinary course of nature, are derived — to Him 
we are warranted by enlii^htejied reason, and com- 
manded by revelation, to ascribe supreme glory and 
pay exclusive worship. 

In ray next discourse I shall endeavour to ascer- 
tain the correct and consistent views, whicli, in pre- 
sent times and circumstances, w hen all miraculous 
communications have evidently ceased, we ought to 
entertain of divine influence and assistance, together 
with the effect such views ought to have upon our 
conduct. 



SERMON VIII. 



THE OPERATION OF GOD, AND THE CO-OPERATION OF 
MAN; OR THE NATURE OF DIVINE INFLUENCES EX« 
PLAINED. 



Phil. ii. part of 12th & 13th verses, 

— Work out your own salvation -with fear and tremblings for it id 
God -who ivorketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

[Perhaps a slight transposition might render the meaning of 
the apostle more intelligible — **/or it is God ivho, of his good 
pleasure, -worketh in you both to -will and to Jo."3 

If it be acknowledged that our very existence, 
and consequently every power and faculty annexed 
to it, are all the gift of the Creator, it follows una- 
voidably, that he must have a constant and unre- 
stricted access to our minds — « he understandeth our 
thought afar ofT.'^ Nor can it, upon any consistent 
principles, be denied, that it is at all times in his power 
to influence the operations of our mental system as he 
pleases, and out of the ordinary course of nature. We 
believe also, upon the testimony of the hnly scriptures^ 
that such an interposition has actually taken place 
upon occasions whirh appeared to the divine wisdom 
to require it. But it is a received maxim, that extra- 
ordinary cases are not to be drawn into precedents; 
and it would be very unsafe to argue that because 
God can do this or that, or because he has done it in 

M 2 



138 



jy^ature of 



particular circumstances, we may therefoj*e expect it 
to be repeated. Let us then take sober reasoning 
and calm judgment to our assistance in the present 
inquiry. If not a single fact appears, from which it 
can be truly concluded that either any individual, or 
any collective body of men, do, at the present xr^y 
possess any portion of extraordinary illumination 
from above, let us lay aside such an idea as entirely 
out of the question. If, on the other hand, we can- 
not reasonably doubt (on the principle I have just 
adverted to) that there may be, and is, a communi- 
cation between the spirit of God and the spirit of 
man, in a natural and intelligible way, let us endea- 
vour to obtain clear views of it, that we may improve 
it to useful and important purposes. 

I will adventure then, in the outset, to lay down 
this as an axiom — ^That the divine influence is, and 
always has been, imparted to the human mind, in 
such a way as not to set aside, but to be consistent 
with the sound and discretionary use of its rational 
faculties. I do not mean to make a reserve even 
with respect to miraculous influences. Except in a 
very few instances, to which I adverted in my last 
discourse, and which will admit of an easy explana- 
tion, we are always led to understand, that the na- 
tural powers were not superseded, but, as it were, 
brightened, extended, invigorated, and a suggestion 
conveyed that they were, on certain emergencies, to 
be employed in something which they were not other- 
wise capable of accomplishing. In several such in- 
stances we are told that the persons acting were full 
of or filed with^ the holy spirit. But that the free- 
dom of the mind, in such circumstances, remained 
unimpaired, need nqtJbe a subject of doubt, when we 



Divine Influences explained. 139 



read such passages as the following : — " It seemed 
good to the holy spirit and to us" — My conscience 
bearing me witness in the holy spirit'' — The spirit 
itself beareth witness with our spirits" — <^ I will pray 
with the spirit, I will pray with the understanding 
also." Thus moreover, I conceive, we have a clue 
whereby to form a proper idea of the inspiration un- 
der which the sacred writings were penned. The 
declaration of our Lord to the apostles (of course 
including the evangelists) that the spirit should bring 
all things he had said to their remembrance, did not 
imply that an absolute controul was to be exercised 
over their natural powers of recollection; conse- 
quently room was left for those inconsiderable varia- 
tions, which, without any impeachment of their ve- 
racity, would be almost sure to happen when four 
different persons undertook to write a narrative of 
the same events. To this it may be added, that we 
find, on several occasions, the apostles acting like 
other men under the guidance of their own judgment 
— sometimes indeed of a mistaken judgment. Thus 
Paul and Barnabas, though both said to have been 
full of the holy spirit, had a sharp contention con- 
cerning the taking of Mark with them on one of their 
visitations, and separated in consequence. So Paul 
withstood Peter at Antioch because he was to be 
blamed. Paul's miraculou^s powers of healing seem 
also to have been withdrawn, when he mentions the 
sickness of two of his friends, for whose recovery he 
would no doubt have gladly exercised them. And 
these influences were not only not constantly and ir- 
resistibly operative upon the mind, but might be 
counteracted, as is evident from the exhortations and 
cautions given in some of the epistles in that behalf; 



140 



JSTature of 



nay even grossly abused, as appears from PauPs re- 
proofs of the Corinthian converts. And from all this 
we may infer, that those who are said to have been 
led by the spirit, must have followed of their owa 
free will. 

I hope I have so far established my position, that 
during the period when extraordinary communica- 
tions of the spirit of God were made, it was in a way 
that did not infringe the natural freedom of the mind^ 
but that a co-operati<)n of its powers with them was 
necessary to effect the purposes intended. Let us 
now pursue the thread of the argument into present 
times and circumstances. And 1 propose to consider 
the subject in a natural and moral view, and to show, 
in both respects, why we must work because God 
worketh in us. 

1 have already called your attention to the as- 
tonishing effects produced by the divine energy, or 
in other words by the spirit of God, in the system qf 
the universe, and to those operations in our own 
frame which seem to be carried on without our im- 
mediate concurrence. I shall not now repeat them, 
nor say any thing on the subject of instincU which 
seems to form an intermediate link between volun- 
tary and involuntary action, partaking of the nature 
of each. 1 shall confine my remarks to some parti- 
culars, evidently ascribable to divine agency, which 
require the consentaneous operation of the human fa- 
culties to give them their full effect. To begin with 
a matter of universal concern and primary impor- 
tance-— 

Christ has, with the utmost propriety, taught us 
to pray, " Give us our daily bread.'' That God is 
the giver of our daily bread, we cannot hesitate a 



Divine Influences explained. 141 

moment to admit, when we consider that it is he who 
has fixed the laws of vegetation, and given to every 
seed its own body — that it is his sun that shines, and 
his rain that falls. But in vain would the sun shine 
and the rain descend, if man were not to prepare the 
ground, sow the seed, and gather in the produce, 
which would otherwise be scattered abroad and lost. 
In like manner^ the fruits which are given by the mu- 
nificent Creator for our refreshment and delight, are, 
when wild, of inferior quality, but by attentive cul- 
ture are brought to perfection, and made to yield 
their most exquisite flavour. Every thing which the 
hand of the Almighty has bestowed with the utmost 
liberality and profuseness — light, air, water, fire, mi- 
nerals, metals*— all require the labour and ingenuity 
of man to be productive of their greatest benefits; 
The like may be said of the animal kingdom — their 
physical strength, thelcovering of their bodies, their 
various instincts and habits, are made to contribute 
to our convenience and support, but not without skil- 
ful management. With respect to ourselves, although 
we know but little of the manner in which our bodies 
grow, are nourished, and supported, and of the won- 
derful processes that are constantly carrying on in 
the interior of our frame, yet their preservation in 
health depends in no small degree upon our own 
care, caution, and prudence. When a limb is frac- 
tured, a fluid exudes from the extremities of the frac- 
ture which soon becomes as solid as the bone itself j 
and thus a wonderful provision is made for the re- 
union of the parts. This is done without any con- 
sciousness or contrivance of ours; but unless we take 
care to adjust the broken pieces, and preserve their 
natural position, the limb becomes distorted and use- 



Mature of 



less. The like may be said of many other bodily in- 
juries, vvliich are no sooner received, than nature 
(speakings in common language) instantly sets about 
doing her part towards the cure, expecting us to do 
ours likewise. Let it be observed, that in these calls 
npon the industry, care, and attention of man, there 
is no coercion — no absolute uncontrollable necessity; 
strong motives are indeed presented, but he mat/, if 
he will, counteract them. If he does so, he becomes 
culpable, and suffers in consequence. In all these in- 
stances, nothing can be more evident than that we 
are, in the language of our great apostle on another 
occasion, workers together with God*^— and it is 
equally evident, that such language would carry no 
meaning with it, if man were not endued with liberty 
of acting. 

Let us then inquire whether he be not possessed of 
similar freedom as a moral Sigent. Here we build 
upon the same foundation, namely, that all our mo- 
ral, as well as our rational faculties, are the gift of 
our Creator. By our moral faculties, I would be 
understood to mean in general, our perception of the 
intrinsic difference between moral good and evil. 
Being thus given, it is our*s for the time we are to 
exercise it. It is the talent concerning which, hav- 
ing put it into our hands, he has said, Occupy (or 
traffic with if) till I come. Like other gifts, it does 
indeed comprehend a vast variety of circumstances 
and degrees; and although, among nations extreme- 
ly barbarous, this moral sense may seem to be much 
obscured, and scarcely apparent, still the principle 
is as inherent in human nature as that of fertility in 
the earth under proper cultivation, though barren 
without it, or of vegetation in the seed, which, though 



Divine Ivfliiences explained. 



143 



when buried too deep in the ground, it shews no signs 
of life, immediately discovers them when brought 
within the action of concurring causes. Revelation^ 
and particularly the gospel revelation, is that genial 
influence under which the moral principle fully un- 
folds itself, and, like the ripening suns and fructify- 
ing showers of heaven, assisting and co-operating 
with human industry, attention and culture, exhibits 
it in all its beauty, fragrance and utility. But as in 
the natural, so in the moral system, in vain may the 
sun of righteousness arise, in vain may divine in- 
struction and assistance be offered, if man will not 
accept and improve ; in vain may the hand of divine 
mercy be stretched out, if man will be disobedient 
and gainsaying. Almighty God (with reverence I 
speak it) has, by the laws he hath established, put it 
out of his own power to save tlie obstinate and rebel- 
lious from the consequences of their misconduct — - 
witness that most pathetic expostulation with Israel, 
Ezekiel xviii. 31. & xxxiii. 11. Say unto them. As 
I live saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the 
death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from 
his way and live — turn ye, turn ye from your evil 
ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel I 
cannot help you if I would, if you will not help your- 
selves. Indeed, the power of man to obey or disobey, 
to accept or refuse, is, like the unity of God, so clear- 
ly legible in every page of revelation, that he who 
runs may read — so abundantly confirmed by every 
reasoning and feeling faculty, that to doubt of it were 
to doubt of our existence. As little also can w e doubt 
of the nature and reality of that influence and assist- 
ance which is imparted to us from above. Like the 
light that visits our eyes, it is present if we w ill but 



JSTature of 



open them to behold it. Like the air that surrounds 
us, it is everj moment ready to be inhaled, if we do 
not wilfully obstruct the organs of respiration. At 
any moment we please, we may have recourse to 
God's word, which he has given us, as a good pa- 
rent gives iiis children an estate. Atjirst view, and 
on its very facet it is a generous gift, an ample pa- 
trimony, capable of supplying our most pressing exi- 
gences, with a small degree of attention. But we are 
not to satisfy ourselves with this — we are to dig into 
it to find the treasure it contains — we are to ascer- 
tain, by study and experiment, how it is to be made 
capable of producing the greatest possible benefit ; 
and, if we are wise, shall hear and compare the dif- 
ferent opinions of others before we finally decide 
upon our plan. In such circumstances, should we 
not smile if a grave agricultural society were to tell 
us— We have thoroughly studied these matters, 
and have consulted many ancient writers upon the 
subject — we have compiled a system of cultivation 
which we are sure is the only one that can be at- 
tempted with success, aod, if you do not adopt it, we 
pronounce that ytmv estate will go to ruin.'' If I 
may be permitted to carry on the simile a little far- 
ther, as an estate, given in so perfect a state of cul- 
tivation as not to need any labour or attention for 
its improvement, would be rather a disadvantage than 
a benefit, and dispose to idleness and dissipation, so 
I am fully persuaded, that whatever in the sacred 
scriptures may appear to require elucidation by 
means of the human understanding, is so far from 
being to their discredit, or a reflection upon the di- 
vine wisdom and goodness, that it is cause of thank- 
fulnessi as it keeps the intellectual faculties in that 



Divine Influences explained. 145 



state of activity, equally necessary to their health 
and vigour as exercise is to the body, affords us the 
high gratification of discovering truth, and is, on the 
whole, most suitable to our present state and con- 
dition. 

Thus, in whatever light we view our subject, we 
are still brought back to that point in which our text 
places it~the good pleasure of God. All things are 
of him — our existence, our rational and moral pow- 
ers, our capacities for improvement and happiness, 
the freedom of our will, the gospel with all its bless- 
ings, hopes and promises ; and he has annexed to 
these gifts such conditions as to him seemed meet. 
We have no right to complain of any of his dispen- 
sations. He was under no obligation to give us ex- 
istence at all ; and if no such world as this, or no 
such beings as we, had been created, his consummate 
happiness would have suffered no diminution; but, 
as the sovereign disposer of all things, he has seen 
fit that we should occupy the rank we hold in the 
scale of his works; and he has made us with such 
capacities for happiness as suited the plans of his in- 
finite benevolence. A state of inaction on our part 
did not enter into those plans. He has done much 
for us, but he has given us much to do; and if we ne- 
glect or refuse to fall in with his intentions, our inte- 
rest and our happiness suffer in proportion, for his 
laws are not to be disregarded with impunity. The 
best human governments are an imperfect resem- 
blance of that of the Almighty. They allow entire 
freedom of action, subject only to the wholesome 
restraints of law ; and though we are not immediate- 
ly acquainted with the motives and views which dic- 
tate such or such measures, there is reason to believe, 

N 



146 



JSTature of 



and in due time it will be manifest, that a fostering 
and superintending care is continually exercised for 
the common interest and happiness. 

The apostle has thrown out another idea in our 
text which is well worthy of our consideration. Obe- 
dience to every species of lawful authority is accom- 
panied with a feeling of respect, w hich becomes more 
impressive in proportion as its object is possessed of 
the qualifications that demand it, and as our own 
welfare is concerned in rendering it. The greatest 
and best of beings, therefore, must be entitled to it 
in the highest degree ; and as he is our Father and 
Benefactor, it should be mingled with that affection 
which renders it peculiarly worthy of an ingenuous 
and grateful mind. The prophet Hosea says " Af- 
terward shall the children of Isi ael return and seek 
the Lord their God, and shall fear the Lord and his 
goodness in the latter days.'^ Such I conceive to be 
the disposition recommended by the apostle in the 
terms fear and trembling— *not a servile fear, but an 
ingenuous apprehension lest, through our own mis- 
conduct, the designs of infinite goodness for our hap- 
piness should be rendered abortive. To view them 
with cai^ele«s indifference, or to counteract them by 
wilful obstinacy— what can be more inexcusable! 
What is there from which we should keep at a more 
cautious distance ! Or if this were merely an appeal 
to the principle of self-love, it ought to have a pow- 
erful effect indeed, when we consider the momentous 
consequences of success or miscarriage in the w^ork 
of our salvation. So that in all the dealings of God 
with us, whether as to our bodies or our souls, we 
see that he presents us with variety of tlie most pow- 
erful motives to comply with his gracious intentions 



Divine Influences explained. 14^ 



for our happiness, and to induce us, as nothing has 
been wanting on his part, not to he deficient on ours. 
Moreover, in proportion to the number and value of 
the talents Cf)nfided to us is our responsibility. The 
very liberty of action with which we are intrusted is, 
of itself, a most weighty charge, and involves in it 
considerations of the highest moment. It is indeed 
the only effectual inrentive to virtue ; for if our ac- 
tions were believed to be the result of inevitable ne- 
cessity, we might sit down secure and at ease, and 
be indifferent about their consequences — they could 
not be the subject either of reward or punishment. 
Such seems to be the tendency of those doctrines 
which represent man as having wholly lost all abi» 
litj' of will to any spiritual good accompanying sal- 
vation, as utterly indisposed, disabled and made op- 
posite thereto, and wholly inclined to all evil and that 
continually.'* What are laid down as the means of 
recovery out of this deplorable state ? Even these — 
^< All those whom God hath predestinated unto life^ 
and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and 
accepted time, effectually to call by his word and 
spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which 
they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus 
Christ Surely, my friends, had these things been 
so, Paul v/ould have addressed the Philippians in 
different language. Instead of exciting them to ac- 
tion by sounding an alarm, he would rather have 
said, " Give yourselves no concern about your salva-^ 
tion ; no part of the work is your's — it is exclusive- 
ly God's and you may as well wait till it is his 
good pleasure to call you, and begin it within you/' 
Instead of this what does he say ? God worketh — he 
is now working in you j therefore up and be doing, 



148 



JV^ature of 



and work together with him and dread above all 
things your being too late — now is the accepted 
time, now is the day of salvation/^ But it is said 
again — "We are by nature altogether averse from 
that which is good — We are dead in sin, and are no 
more able to effect any thing for ourselves than a 
corpse is to raise itself to life.'^ This is another la- 
mentable misapplication of sacred writ. The wretch- 
ed state of the Gentile world, previous to the promul- 
gation of the gospel, is represented by the strong 
figures of the natural man being sunk into a deep 
sleep, and even into a state of death, in trespasses 
and sins. But if this had been any thing more than 
figurative, and it had really not been in the power of 
men to shake off this death-like torpor, would that 
exhortation have been addressed to them — ^ Awake, 
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and 
Christ shall give thee light My brethren, we are, 
if we think proper so to consider ourselves, in this 
awakened state — God who is rich in mercy hath 
quickened us together with Christ, by whose resur- 
rection we are raised from the death of sin to the life 
of righteousness." It is a dangerous self-deception to 
be waiting for farther, and what are supposed to be 
effectual calls, while God is every moment at work 
with us in the precepts of his word, in the strong 
motives of hope and fear which are there set before 
us, in the remonstrances of conscience, and by the 
sense of good and evil which he hath implanted with- 
in us. The light, which we profess to be expecting, 
is all the while gloriously shining, and we will not 
open our eyes to behold it, but are w^asting the pre» 
cious moments in idle dreams— let us beware lest 
while we thus sleep the enemy be sowing tares—lest 



Divine Influences explained. 149 

while we are vainly waiting for some extraordinary 
call from above to give us evidence of our election, 
evil habits be gaining unperceived strength; our mo- 
ral liberty, the distinguishing glory of our nature, be 
lost ; and we become the vile and degraded slaves of 
passion, pride and prejudice. Let us beware, lest 
while under these delusions, we fall into that deplo- 
rable state when, in the language of scripture, the 
spirit of God ceases to strive with man and is taken 
away from him ; w hen the heart is hardened, the eyes 
blinded, and the ears deafened. This is sometimes 
represented as God's doing, because the effect is ex- 
actly the same as if he did it. But never did God 
harden any man^s heart till he had first hardened it 
himself— never did he take away his spirit, that is 
(as we have now been led to understand it) his na- 
tural sense of good and evil, nor the advantages, 
whatever they were, for his reformation and im- 
provement, till the man himself had become totally 
insensible to every thing that is good, and sold him- 
self to his lusts and passions. I know not in what 
light the doctrines of total depravity and inability in 
man, and of arbitrat-y election on the part of God, 
may affect the minds of others, but to me they appear 
directly calculated to counteract the very design of 
revelation, and to produce and confirm all those evils 
which the gospel was intended to cure. If they be 
true, I see not how man can be considered as ac- 
countable for his actions. If they met the common 
sense and concurrence of mankind, they might with 
propriety be pleaded at the bar of earthly justice, as 
an excuse for the vilest crimes. But who ever heard 
of such a plea being admitted? or who shall dare to 
tell his eternal Judge to his face (as on such a sup» 

N 2 



150 



JVature of 



position he might), my condemnation lies 2it thy 
door — that I am not saved is thy fault and not mine?'' 
Finally— 

There is exactly the same propriety in prayers for 
divine assistance as in those for our daily bread. 
While we know, that without our own honest and 
faithful endeavours, it is in vain to expect it, the sin- 
cere desire and humble dependance, expressed by the 
act of prayer, at once animate the endeavour to pro- 
cure, and prepare the heart to receive the blessing. 
The sustenance of our bodies by the use of food, and 
the improvement of our minds by the application of 
the means of grace, are equally the gift of God ; but 
if we pray for either the one or the other without 
any exertion of our own powers, our prayers will 
not be answered. For earnest prayer for increase 
in Christian virtue, and strength to resist temptation, 
implies a resolution to acquire the one, and cmition 
against the otlier; it is, in fact, a solemn appeal to 
the Searcher of hearts for the sincerity of our desire 
to do those things which are well-pleasing in his 
sight, and every thing short of this is nothing better 
than formality, if it be not hypocrisy. And what 
softer appellation would our conduct deserve, if, 
when we have been praying — <*Lead us nofc into 
temptation,'' we should wilfully rush upon it, or take 
no care to avoid it. It is the earnest endeavour 
after, and attention to the thing desired, that can 
alone procure success ; and in this respect, what our 
Lord said to his apostles, is not inapplicable to our 
case — Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that 
seeketh findeth, and unto him that knocketh it shall 
be opened." If, in the sense I have now suggested, 
we pray, as we frequently do in terms^ for tho spirit 



Divine Influences explained. 151 



of God, and for the aids of his spirit, nothing can be 
more proper and useful. But I think a little caution 
on this head is necessary. If we examine with at- 
tention several expressions which are frequently bor- 
rowed from scripture on these occasions, we shall 
probably find that they are referable rather to the 
then existing state of the Christian church, than to 
that of the present day. Su( h an error might tend 
to damp our own endeavours on wiiich so much de- 
pends, if not lead to the fatal one of looking for those 
supernatural influences which have long ago ceased, 
and which no man, since then, ever pretended to ex- 
perience, without justly subjecting himself to the 
charge of enthusiasm or of imposture. In one im- 
portant particular however, we find both the extra- 
ordinary and the ordinary acceptation of the term 
spirit coinciding, namely in the moral effects pro- 
duced on the mind, and to which we shall do well 
cl( sely to attend, if we mean to support the true 
Christian character. In the epistle to the Galatians, 
contrasting the works of the flesh, i. e, of their Gen- 
tile state, with those of their conversion to Christia- 
nity, Paul tells them, the fruits of the spirit are 
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
faithfulness, meekness, temperance.^' So also to the 
Ephesians, <^Ye were formerly darkness, but now 
are ye light in the Lord— walk as children of light; 
for the fruit of light (or the spirit) is in all goodness 
and righteousness and truth.'' Such, my brethren, 
is the spirit of Christianity ; let us then ever bear in 
mind that if any man have not the spirit of Christ 
he is none of his ; that the promises of God, though 
all yea and amen in Christ Jesus, are a dead^ letter 



15S 



J\*ature of^ Sfe. 



with respect to us, without a fulfilment of conditions 
on our part. Let us therefore fear, lest a promise 
being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should 
appear to come short of it. 



SERMON IX. 



ON THE NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



MLIYEHED 28th MAllCH 1813, PREYIOUS TO THE FIBST CELEBRATION 
or THE OHDINAlfCE IN THE NEW CHTJBCH. 

Luke, xxii. 19. 

This (h in remejnbrance of me* 

As the time is at hand, when, agreeably to the 
constitutional rules of this religious society, we are 
to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and as it is probable 
that several now are, and will then be present, to 
whom our sontiments on that important branch of 
Christian duty may not be fully known, I have 
thought it right to embrace this early opportunity of 
introducing the subject, that leisure may be afforded 
to those who are so disposed, to turn it in their 
minds, and to determine, after due deliberation, what 
line of conduct they will pursue on that occasion ; 
and I shall think myself happy, if, by placing this 
ordinance in what appears to me a truly evangeli- 
cal, and therefore rational point of view, any of those 
fears, doubts, and prejudices, which prevent a gene- 
ral attendance upon it, may be, ere long, if not im- 



154 



^^ture and Design 



mediately, removed, and so our light, as a Christian 
church, both as to doctrine and practice, may shine 
with distinguished lustre, to the glory of our Father 
who is in heaven. 

As it is a maxim with us, from which I hope we 
shall never depart, to take our ideas of Christian 
truth immediately from the scriptures, I cannot do 
better, at this timcj than direct your attention to that 
concise and energetic expression, by which our Lord 
undoubtedly meant to declare what his design was in 
the institution of the Supper. Whatever were the 
act itself — whatever the expressions with which it 
was introduced, this was the point to which they were 
directed — The remembrance of /iimse{/,''~words, 
few indeed in number, but in meaning very compre- 
hensive, and by which we cannot v^ith any reason 
suppose it to be intended, that the disciples should 
barely recollect that such a person had lived and con- 
versed with them, or the comparatively little space 
of time that the Lord Jesus had gone in and out 
among them. They were to call to mind the testi- 
mony the Father had given to the divinity of his 
mission by the voi( e from heaven— his transfigura- 
tion on the holy mount — the miracles he had perform- 
ed — the doctrines and instructions he had delivered 
'—•his friendship and affection for them^ — the prayers 
he had offered on their behalf — his predictions and 
promises, and their exact accomplishment. Yet that 
his death, and all its affecting and amazing circum- 
stances, should have a principal place in their re- 
gards, as the last and strongest proof of his love, 
there can be no doubt (greater love, said he, hath 
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for 
his friends), since the breaking of the bread, and the 



of the Lord^s Supper. 155 



pouring forth of the wine, were to be consklered as 
apt representations of the sufferings with whirh it 
was attended, and as an allusion made to the ratifica- 
tion of a new covenant, whereby many, (that is, 
others besides the Jews) should receive remission of 
sins, and be placed in the same state of favour, as a 
chosen people, that had hitherto been peculiar to Is- 
rael by the blood of the sacrifices enjoined by the 
law. Our Lord, upon this occasion, made a most 
admirable use of that faculty, inherent in the human 
xnind, of associating ideas. It is an use we ourselves 
often make of it, when, on parting with dear and 
highly valued friends, we try to live in their remem- 
brance and esteem by leaving with them some token 
of our affection. Should we ourselves be the objects 
of such a gift, we call to mind w^henever we look 
upon it, with the most tender emotionvS, not only the 
act of giving, but all the excellences of the character 
of the donor, and the happy moments we have passed 
in his society ; and it has a peculiarly powerful effect 
if what he has thus bestowed have any appropriate 
reference to the circumstances in which he was 
placed at the moment of separation. But it may be 
said~" However just and proper all this may ap- 
pear, the apostles only were the persons thus address- 
ed, and it is not clear, on the face of the narrative, 
as given by the evangelists, that any others were ex- 
pected to perform the action with a sinjilar applica- 
tion." It is a suflScient answer to such an objection, 
that Paul informed the Corintiiians, that he had re- 
ceived an account of this transaction, by revelation 
from the Lt-rd, and had in consequence diiivered 
it to them for theii- observance, in terms which ap- 
pear to be adequately correspondent to what is re- 



136 J^ature and Design 



corded in three of the gospels. But his additional 
remark, that by eating of that bread, and drinking 
of that cup, they showed the Lord's death till he 
should comtf has been supposed to limit the time of 
celebrating the rite to the interval preceding the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, to which the phrase, coming 
of the Lordf did certainly refer. But, in the first 
place, it is no less certain that it did also refer to the 
coming of Christ to the resurrection and final judg- 
ment. Secondly—If it be allowed that there was any 
propriety in observing this rite with reference to an 
event which was near at hand, and whieh Christ had 
foretold should happen while that generation exist- 
ed, not less apparent was the necessity for the 
strengthening of faith in that still more important 
catastrophe which was not to take place till many 
ages had elapsed. Thirdly — The command to re- 
member Christ is not limited to the commemoration 
of his death alone, but generally to remember him as 
I have already endeavoured to show; and as our in- 
terest in the purposes and benefits of his mission is 
not less personal and important than that of the pri- 
mitive believers, we are equally bound to express our 
obligations to the author of them. Fourthly — If any 
stress be laid upon PauFs direct application of the 
matter to the Corinthians, viz. ye do show forth the 
Lord's death, &c. it is replied, that it is perfectly 
fair to understand liim as speaking of future bodies 
of Christians, because he uses similar language where 
lie is unequivocally speaking of the great consumma- 
tion of all things. In this same epistle he says, We 
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a 
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, 
for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be 



of the LoviPs Supper. . 157 



raised,'' &c. And to the Tliessalonians, We \vhi( !i 
are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord^^ 
&r. It may be added, though on this I lay no pecu- 
liar stress, that the earliest accounts we have of 
Christianity, and all subsequent history, bear testi- 
mony that in some form or other (often indeed fo- 
reign to its original purpose) this rite has subsisted, 
and been considered as obligatory by the generality 
of Christians. 

Such simplicity was there in the original institu- 
tion of the Lord's Supper — so directly was it calcu- 
lated to excite, and to keep in constant activity, the 
best affections of the human heart — thanksgiving to 
God for his unspeakable gift — gratitude to Christ as 
the voluntary agent under him in the great business 
of salvation, and mutual love among his disciples, as 
associates in one common calling, as fellow-heirs of 
one glorious inheritance. Alas ! how soon did it be- 
gin to be perverted into an engine of mischief, male- 
volence, oppression, deception ; and to be made sub- 
servient to the gratifying of every bad passion that 
degrades the nature of man ! It had been said in the 
earlier days of the gospel, See how these Chris- 
tians love one another How justly, in later times^ 
might an observation diametrically opposite have 
been made! When the civil power took one party, 
^ professing a particular mode of faith, under its pa- 
tronage, immediately it assumed the lofty high- 
sounding title of the Catholic or Universal Church, 
resolved to tolerate no doctrines differing from its 
own, and to employ against its opponents every 
weapon of carnal and spiritual warfare. Among 
these, excommunication was one of the most formida- 
ble and powerful ; involving in its consequences the 

O 



JV'ature and Design 



temporal and aiming, as far as it could reach, at the 
eternal ruin of its object j and this, not for imniora« 
lity of conduct, but for opinions, adjudged to be he- 
retical and damnable, upon subjects wherein both the 
contending parties were equally wide of the truth. — 
Would to God that these baneful effects had altogether 
xeased at the sera when many of the grosser corrup- 
tions of that antichristian church were successfully 
exposed, resisted, and put away ! Yet not only do we 
still see the imposture of transubstantiation retaining 
its dominion over the understandings and senses of a 
great part of the Christian world, but even among 
Protestants, an undue authority maintained and ex- 
ercised, in consequence of setting the Lord's Supper 
at a distance from, and ascribing to it a high pre- 
eminence above, the other solemnities of social wor- 
ship. By some of them it has been held to be a mys- 
tery, a life-giving, dreadful, tremendous, holy, un- 
polluted, divine, and heavenly mystery, so awful as 
to be unapproachable^ except by a favoured and dis- 
tinguished few. Scarcely has any new sect arisen, 
around which it has not been drawn as a sacred in- 
closure, and within which none were admitted but 
such as could pronounce the Shibboleth^ whereby it 
might be known that they were of the number of the 
elect ; so that instead of the Lord^Sy it became empha- 
tically their supper. Can we doubt that wherever 
such an unauthorised tribunal has been erected, ho- 
nest, but timid and modest minds, have not had reso- 
lution to pass through the required ordeal, or that 
this is a principal cause why the ordinance is not 
more generally attended ? 

But nothing has more contributed to an unwar- 
rantable assumption of power on the one hand, or to 



af the Lovd^s Supper. 159 



a servile subjection and unfounded apprehension and 
terror on the other, than the unhappy misconstruc- 
tion and mistranslation of that passage in Paul's 
epistle to the Corinthians, wherein he speaks of the 
consequences of eating the bread, and drinking the 
cup of the Lord, unworthily. His words are — He 
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the 
Lord's body/' But instead of judgment, the word 
has been translated (and I fear from very unwarran- 
table motives) damnation. It was not for the interest 
of any ecclesiastical body, pretending to have juris* 
diction in cases of this nature, to point out the impro- 
priety ; it has therefore continued unaltered in the 
received translation to the present day. But is it to 
be wondered at that the Lord's table should have beerj 
deserted, when hung round with such gloom and hor- 
ror !~that this feast of love should have lost almost 
all its attractions! Let us, however, approach with- 
out apprehension, and draw aside the veil. By com- 
paring the passage in question with others, it will 
appear that this judgment related to some bodily suf» 
ferings which the apostles, by virtue of their extra- 
ordinary powers, were authorised to inflict, and 
which might be attended with as salutary effects, in 
those early days of the church, as the sudden deaths 
of Ananias and Saphira. So in the verses imme- 
diately following — « For this cause many are weak 
and sickly among you, and many sleep; for if we 
would judge ourselves we should not be judged; but 
when we are judged, we are cliastened of the Lord, 
that we should not be condemned with the world." 
The incestuous person, whom they were directed to 
separate from their communion, was thus punished : 



160 JVature and Design 

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are 
gathered t«)gether, and my spirit, with the power of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such an one to Satan, 
for the destruction of the flesh, (hat the spirit may 
be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.'' We learn, 
subsequently, that the punishment had its intended 
effect,' and thus it appears that the judgment here 
spoken of, was so far from being utter damnation, 
that it was, although a severe, yet a salutary, chas- 
tisement to produce reformation; and, all miracu- 
lous powers having long since ceased in the church, 
the case is, so far, inapplicable to any thing that can 
occur in the present day; and it would only expose 
to ridicule and contempt any religious society who 
should now take upon them to deliver an offending 
member to Satan, or pronounce upon him sentence 
of damnation, however enormous his crime might 
be. That unworthy partaking, which made a man 

guilty of the body and blood of the Lord,'* may be 
explained in a manner equally satisfactory^ It had, 
iike the case already spoken of, a local and tempo- 
rary reference. When every one took before ano- 
ther his own supper, when one was hungry and ano- 
ther w^as drunken, and such scandalous irregulari- 
ties prevailed as ought not to have been tolerated 
even at a common meal — this was " trampling under 
foot the blood of the covenant and counting it an un- 
holy thing''-— it was crucifying the Son of God 
afresh, and putting him to open shame.'' Of these 
excesses and disorders I trust we are in no danger. 

Far am I^ how^ever, from tliinking that lawful and 
necessary cause of exclusion from the Lord's table 
may not occur. Let us consider, for a moment, the 
nature of the traiisaction.~It certainly is something 



of the Lord^s Supper. 161 



iflore than a common act of worship, at which last 
every person has full liberty to be present; and whe- 
ther he be Jew, Mahometan, or Indian, as long as 
he maintains external decency of behaviour, the so» 
ciety have nothing to do w ith his religion or his cha- 
racter. But when a man places himself at the Lord's 
table, with an intention to partake, he declares, as 
explicitly as if he did it in words™" I profess my*- 
self a Christian.'' Now to name the name of Christ 
in this decided, unequivocal manner, what is it but 
an implied resolution, in the presence of God and of 
the world, to depart from all iniquity? If, notwith- 
standing, it be notorious that a person who comes to 
this service is in such an habitual practice of any 
vice that it cannot be reasonably believed he is a pe- 
nitent, there ought to be a solemn protest against his 
farther attendance ; and if w^e should be ashamed to 
be seen in his company on any common occasion, 
much more so on this, where his admission would 
give such just occasion for scandal and reproach. 
A measure of this kind, I think, w^ould be clearly au- 
thorised by the advice of Paul to the Corinthians to 
put away from among themselves that wicked per- 
son who lived openly in the commission of what w as 
not so much as named among the Gentiles — nor to 
keep company, or even to eat with any one who was 
called a brother, and yet was guilty of any flagrant 
breach of morality, that the feast might be kept, 
not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but 
with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.'^ 
Of any previous examination on the part of the 
church, we however read nothing. It was suflic'ent 
for his first admission if he professed himself a Chris- 
tian, and if he had before been wicked^ that he was a 




162 



j\*ature and Design 



penitent. The only rule we find laid down on that 
head is — Let a man examine himself.'^ Still less 
authority is there for, and still more strenuously 
would I deprecate the establishment of, any doctri7tal 
test, as a qualification for admission to the commu- 
nion. While I know nothing against a man's moral 
character, it ought to be sufficient for my receiving 
him as a brother, on such an occasion, that he osten- 
sibly professes himself a believer in Christ. And 
shall I, when sitting down with him to eat and drink 
in remembrance of our common Lord and Master, 
bethink myself of any trifling difference in the detail 
of our sentiments or opinions, or behold him with a 
frown, because he cannot square his faith in every 
minute particular with my own ? Shall I thus com- 
mend myself and judge him whom the Lord may ap- 
prove? Far from me~»far from any religious society 
of which 1 am a member, be such a contracted, cen- 
sorious, and uncharitable spirit! At the table to be 
spread in this place the next Lord's day, all-in what- 
ever church they are accustomed to worship, are 
welcome to a place. Nor let the unworthy suspicion 
intrude itself, that by this apparently candid and li- 
beral conduct we are laying a snare for the unwary 
to induce them to become members of our body. So 
cautiously have we avoided every thing that should 
have the appearance of making the Lord's Supper a 
test, that our constitution does not require an attend- 
ance upon it as a qualification for membership; and 
while we are heartily disposed to look upon an occa- 
sional participation as a proof of good- will and Chris- 
tian charity, we enquire no farther, nor take any ex- 
ceptions if it be not repeated. 



of the Lord^s Supper. 163 



While, however, we studiously avoid, in respect of 
this business, every thing that savours of supersti- 
tion, bigotry, and intolerance, let us not fly off into 
the opposite extreme of sinking it below its appro- 
priate degree in the scale of religious duties. As the 
event to which it relates was, both in itself and in its 
consequences, of the highest importance in the gospel 
economy, in the same proportion must it be calcu- 
lated to make and leave upon the heart impressions 
peculiarly serious and weighty, liighly favourable to 
Christian virtue, and of powerful efficacy to preserve 
the mind, in young persons especially, from the 
power of temptation. And although 1 do not take it 
for granted, that Pliny, when proconsul of Bithynia, 
was perfectly a( quainted with the religious opinions 
and customs of the Christians, yet from the tenor of 
his rescript to the emperor Trajan, it seems to have 
been generally understood, and with substantial cor- 
rectness, that in their meetings for worship they 
bound themselves by an oathf not to commit any 
wickedness, to be faithful to their trusts and pro- 
mises, &c. ; and hence, perhaps, the term sacrament^ 
(signifying an oath) which, although not in the New 
Testament applied to the Lord's Supper, may not 
improperly express the obligation which the receiver 
lays himself under to a correspondent life and con- 
versation — at least it must be acknowledged that an 
opposite conduct, in him, could not but be universally 
considered as particularly inconsistent and odious. 
And while, on the one hand, no person of good un- 
derstanding will so far deceive himself as to imagine, 
that by declining to attend, he will be at liberty to 
indulge in any practice which would otherwise be 
unlawful, let not, on the other, any humble and se- 



164 



JSTature and Design 



rioiis mind distress itself with the apprehension that 
sins committed after attendance are beyond the rea( h 
of forgiveness. The ordinance is indeed a powerful 
preservative from moral guilt, but it contains no 
charm to render us impeccable; and for any other 
than presumptuous and wilful offences we need not 
despair of pardon from him who knoweth our frame 
and re.nembereth that we are dust. Even these may 
be blotted out upon repentance, as we find in the 
case of the Corinthian offender. As little need it be 
apprehended, that the act cannot be performed accep- 
tably, or must involve the guilt of unworthy receiv- 
ing, if a certain time be not spent in particular pre^ 
paration. Doubth'ss such an exercise is good, and 
may have beneficial effects— but the injunction of it 
as necessary, and the compilation of forms of devo- 
tion for that particular purpose, appear to me to have 
been productive of these bad consequences — that when 
a perscm, otherwise disposed to attend, has been pre- 
vented by unavoidable engagements from performing 
what has thus been laid down as indispensable, he 
has, rather than profane the ordinance by approach- 
ing it unprepared, thought it safer to absent himself 
entirely, which by degrees has grown into a habit; 
while in others, a strict attention to these preparatory 
forms, once, or perhaps twice in the year, has been 
substituted for that habitually regular, serious and 
devout frame of mind, which can at all times accom- 
modate itself to the acct^plable and profitable dis- 
charge of any religious duty; and which would shud- 
der at the idea of atoning ft>r the neglect of moral 
obligations at one time, by a scrupulous performance 
of any ritual institution, however solemn, at another. 
Upon the whole — it is our sincere desire aud endea- 



of the Lord^s Supper. 165 



vour to undiTstand what were the purposes our Sa- 
viour had in view in this institution, and to fulfil 
them — to acknowledge his authority as head overall 
things unto his church, and to submit to it — to show 
to the world that we are not ashamed of a crucified 
master, but look upon his death, however ignomi- 
nious, as opening the way for him, and consequently 
for us, to glory, honour and immortality, and there- 
fore worthy of being commemorated as an event of 
the utmost magnitude and impc^rtance. Equally so- 
licitous are we to avoid what we are sure could not 
be the design of the author and finisher of our faith, 
in this plain and intelligible action, this simple and 
easy injunction. Calling to mind the circumstances 
attending the original institution, we do not think we 
could add to its solemnity or impressiveness by any 
unusual posture of reverence, or costliness of decora- 
tion ; and the lessons of love, which were then deli- 
vered, forbid the admission of any sentiments incon- 
sistent with humility, gratitude and benevolence. We 
are not aware that any peculiar efficacy could be im- 
parted to the bread and wine by any form of conse- 
cration, whether pronounced by any assistant, or by 
a person formally inducted by ordination into the 
clerical order. There is no warrant for this ; for al- 
though Matthew and Mark, according to our com- 
mon translation, use tlie term blessed^^^ the render- 
ing ought to be, as in other places, gave thanks^^ 
which Christ could do to no other being than God 
the Father. To this precedent we are careful strict- 
ly to adhere. The true consecration, consequent 
hereupon, is that which every receiver must make 
to himself by suitable reSections, dispositions, and 
resolutions. Without these, the oblation, with what- 



166 



J\rature and Design^ ^c. 



0ver pomp of words or forms introduced, would be 
vain. May I be permitted to add, that this service 
particularly and expreswsly accords with the senti- 
ments we hold as to the unity and spirituality of 
God, and the humanity of Christ. Strong indeed 
nriust be that prejudice which cannot perceive in it 
an indelible line of distinction, between a body lia- 
ble to wounds, bloodshed and death, and that only- 
living and ever-enduring Spirit whom the heaven of 
heavens cannot contain, dwelling in light which none 
can approach, whom no man hath seen or can see. 
Great must be the difficulty to a reflecting mind, in 
persuading itself, that these two can be so insepara- 
bly united as to constitute one person, in which, to 
accomplish the sacrifice supposed to be made by the 
death of Christ, the priest, the victim, and the God, 
must be identically the same! Surely this persuasion 
Cometh not of him that calleth us i but while it pre- 
vails, the preaching of Christ crucified will be to 
Jews a stumbling-block, and to deists and unbeliev- 
ers foolishness. Let us however hope that when this 
darkness is dispelled, and the true light of the glory 
of God in the face of Jesus Christ breaks forth in 
its native lustre, it will be to all, the foundation of 
saving faith — the power of God and the wisdom of 
God. 



SERMON IL. 



COMFORT UNDER THE LOSS OP CHILDREH 



Job, XV. 11. 

Are the consolations of God small •with thee? 

This was a question put to Job by one of his 
friends who remonstrated with him on the complaints 
he made, in the bitterness of his spirit, when the hand 
of God had touched him, and when in the most mov- 
ing terms he implored their pity. At the beginning 
of his troubles one affliction folh)wed so quickly upon 
another, that he could not but perceive in them an 
immediate divine interposition. Habitually pious and 
devout, his thou4j;hts took the direction which those 
of every good man in similar circumstances will 
take — he fell down upon the ground and worshipped, 
saying, <*The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken 
away— blessed be the name of the Lord." After this 
however we find him using language of a very differ- 
ent kind, and giving such vent to his grief, as if he 
thought himself hardly dealt with, and considered 
himself as made the mark against which Omnipo- 
\ tence had resolved to aim its weapons, merely to ex- 



168 



Comfort under the 



Libit him as a proof of its siipei'iority. The arrows 
of the Aliui^^ht) said he, ** are within me, the poi- 
son whereof drinketh op my spirit; the terrors of 
God do set themselves in arraj against me.'' His 
friends were indeed mistaken in supposing that these 
tilings could not have befallen him if he had not been, 
notvNithstanding fair appeararu es, in reality wicked; 
yet they said mdny thir»gs well wortliy of his atten- 
tion, and not less so of ours; and it is particularly 
the design of Elihu, who waited till all the others 
had spoken, to vindicate the conduct of the divine 
Providence, and to clear it from unfounded imputa- 
tions — *^ Behold," saith he, God exalteth by his 
power; who teacheth likeM??i? who hath enjoined 
him his way, or who can say, thou hast wrought ini- 
quity? He will not lay upon man more than right, 
that he should enter into judgment with God (should 
have any just cause of complaint against him). Al- 
though thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judg- 
ment is before him, therefore trust thou in him/' 
And we have, towards the conclusion of the story, 
Job's return to that temper and conduct, in which.it 
had been said to his praise that he had not sinned not* 
charged God foolishly — <^ I have uttered that I un- 
derstood not, things too wonderful for me which I 
knew not~wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in 
dust and ashes." 

And such ignorance and folly, my brethren, will 
be justly imputable to us, if, when under God's af- 
flicting hand, we suffer ourselves, through the in- 
fluence of ungoverned passion, to think and speak as 
if it were possible that our Maker could do us w^rong. 
But although we may not commit the extravagance 
of quarreling with him for giving us existence, or of 



Loss of Children. 



169 



wishing; the day might perish wherein we were born, 
yet when he takes from us the desire of our eyes, and 
destroys the foundation of our fondest hopes, is it not 
difficult to exclude altogether such thoughts as these? 
Why did the Author of my being give me affections 
calculated to become sources of the purest delight, 
and yet make them so many avenues through which 
pain and sorrow may enter my bosom and wound it 
the more deeply? Has he placed wfthin my embrace, 
that which twines about my heart by the closest and 
most endearing ties, only that by tearing them asun- 
der he may cause it to bleed at every pore ? Does he 
commit to parental affection a fair and tender plant, 
to be cherished and reared to maturity amidst cares 
and hopes and fears of the most interesting nature, 
and yet after all command it to fade away in my 
hands ? Is this what I might expect from him whom 
I am taught and encouraged to recognise under the 
character of ^Father? But be silent, murmuring lipsj 
be still, rebellious thonghts— have we any claim upon 
him for what he bestows ? Or shall he not do what he 
will with his own? To what purpose these complaints? 
Will they bring back from the gates of the grave, or 
prevail on the sovereign Arbiter of life and death to 
recal the sentence already carried into execution?— 
Should it be according to tliij mitHi? No, it should 
not, it shall not. All the strife must end in uncon- 
ditional submission. Such however is not the tem- 
per with which we ought to meet his dispensations, 
whose will is not only wholly uncontrollable but 
good. It is not the sullen subjection with which we 
would bend bef^)re the mandates of an arbitrary ty- 
rant, but that calm and filial acquiescence which con- 
siders all its interests as in the hands of consummate 

P 



lyo ComfoPt under the 



wisdom and everlasting mercy, and is content to re- 
main ignorant now^ of what shall be perfectly known 
hereafter. When the prophet saw the Shunamite 
woman approach, and (apprehending from her un- 
expected visit that some calamity had befallen her,) 
sent his servant in haste to inquire — Is it well with 
thee? is it well with thy husband ? is it well with the 
child ? — she answered It is well.^^ We know too 
who it was that said, when agonising nature could 
scarcely sustain the conflict— Father! if this cup 
may not pass from me except I drink it, thy will be 
done.'^ If we were permitted to choose according 
to the impulse of our natural feelings in a case where 
they are so powerfully awakened, as our choice would 
always be one way, we should often greatly err. God 
only knows whether the fond expectations we have 
built upon retaining what he thinks proper to with- 
draw would have been realised. If this knowledge 
w^ere imparted to us, might we not when our chil- 
dren are taken away, struck with the foresight of 
what was to befal them, truly say, « it is well." We 
mourn, perhaps immoderately mourn, when they are 
gone, but what is this compared with the pangs of a 
broken heart, occasioned by their vicious or unduti- 
ful conduct? Is any sorrow like unto this sorrow ? 
Let me here call your recollection to a circumstance 
or two in the history of David. When a favourite 
child was sick, he showed all the marks of excessive 
grief— he fasted and lay all night upon the earth — 
lie refused to rise— he refused to eat— if his child 
were but spared, this were the greatest favour a gra- 
cious God rould confer on him. This was not grant- 
ed. But he had another son who grew up to man- 
hood with all the graces of person and address — his 



Loss $f Children. 



174 



delight, !iis darling. And shall we for a moment 
compare his feelings on the former occasion with the 
wound inflicted by the ingratitude, disobedience, and 
rebellion of the favourite? Can we read without 
strong emotions of sympathy the bitter, the heart- 
rending expressions in which he dt^plored his fate? 
Are we not ready to say, for the unhpppy father, 
that if Absalom had been taken away before he was 
capable of such degenerate and infamous conduct, it 
had been well? In another respect the conduct of Da- 
vid deserves to be approved and imitated. During 
the sickness of his child, he felt all the anxiety natu- 
ral to a fond parent— but when the fatal crisis was 
past, he arose from the earth, washed and anointed 
himself, partook <»f refreshment, changed his appa- 
rel, ^id came into the house of the Lord and wor- 
shipped—no better expedient than the latter for 
checking immoderate grief; which, independently of 
religious consi'lerations, is as unavailing and unbe-> 
coming on the one hand, as a total insensibility would 
be shocking and unnatural on the other. 

When reflections of this nature have had their 
proper influence — ^when we are convinced that sub- 
mission is both our wisdom and our duty, our minds 
will be in a disposition for receiving the benefit of 
these painful visitations; for that they are sent with 
a kind and gracious design no believer in the super* 
intending providence, the consummate rectitude, and 
unchangeable benevolence of the Deity, will doubt 
So far from this, he will make the very frailty and 
instability of his present enjoyments a ground for the 
expectation of better and more durable hereafter. If 
all the happiness which our Maker intended for us, 
and of which he has made us capable, were limited 



173 



Comfort under the 



to the relations and possessions of the present state, 
there might be some reason to tax him with unkind- 
ness in suffering it to be so frequently interrupted. 
If he had not designed to open to us the prospect of 
obtaining, in a state of improvement and perma- 
nence, the repossession of the blessings which he 
now calls upon us to resign, he would not have 
framed our nature with such a keen sensibility to 
their loss, as must serve only to give us exquisite 
pain without any possible benefit. The anguish 
arising from the wound is then the very preparative 
for its cure — it raises our thoughts at once from 
earth to heaven, and ought to change our complaints 
into thanksgivings — thanksgivings that we are not, 
for want of such seasonable discipline, suffered to 
forget our dependence upon God, and to experience 
the far more hitter effects of folly and thoughtless- 
ness. We have had fathers of our flesh w^ho cor- 
rected us, and we gave them reverence— shall we not 
much rather be in subjection to the Father of our 
spirits,'' who chasteneth us that we may be partakers 
of his holiness here, and be prepared for the ever- 
lasting enjoyment of his favour hereafter ? This is no 
illusion, but a solemn, serious reality. I confidently 
appeal to the experience of such of you, my friends, 
who have been called to the trial (for I know it from 
my own) whether the loss of a beloved child has not, 
if I may so speak, left a tender place in your heart, 
-which rendered it peculiarly sensible to religious im- 
pressions — whether you have not, in this, found cause 
of devout gratitude, and been the more disposed to 
acknowledge the providence of God in every other 
event of your lives, and the more ready to wait all 
his will concerning you and yours with placid and 



Loss of Children. 



173 



dutiful acquiescence, from an experimental convic- 
tion that all your dearest interests were in his hands 
—that you had, and could have no other dependence 
than on him. If such has not been the effect — if you 
are still unconcerned and unreflecting — 1 can only 
say that you are much less happy (whatever you may 
think) than those who have heard the voice of chas- 
tisement, and learned its wholesome lessons — but po- 
sitively wnAappt/ if you are stubborn and untractable, 
and harden ynur hearts against repeated rebukes, 
and reiterated strokes of the correcting rod. Yet 
those of us who are least inclined to question the 
sovereignty and equity of the divine dispensations, 
often find a hard conflict between the dictates of faith 
and the feelings of nature. We are ready to think 
that if we were really objects of the care and com« 
passion of an heavenly Parent, we should be differ- 
ently dealt with, and that desires which appear to us 
so reasonable ought not to be crossed. But where- 
fore this distrust if we really believe what we con- 
stantly profess ? If we were as clearly required by 
an immediate divine command as Abraham was, to 
make a similar sacrifice, would we hesitate to obey ? 
He obeyed in full dependence on the promise i and if 
such an order be given in the common course of 
God's providence, ought we not to believe thataf we 
be resigned and obedient, he has purposes to serve of 
the highest importance to us, although we may be 
unable to discern them? It was no wanton or unne- 
cessary trial to which he put the patriarch's faith, 
nor is it of our^s. Can we imagine that he would 
exhibit himself in his message of mercy by our Lord 
Jesus Christ as our Father, without any design to 
act the part of that endearing and protecting rela^ 

P 2 



174^ Comfort under the 



tion— «a relation which we know (or ought to know) 
implies rebuke and correction as well as indulgence? 
Can he be regardless of the sighs and tears of the 
mourning parent and near relation, who enabled his 
Anointed to work repeated miracles in the behalf of 
such, with expressions and actions of the tenderest 
sympathy and most engaging condescension ? No ! 
Like as a Father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
pitieth them timt fear him, for " he knoweth their 
frame, he remembereth that they are dust.^^ 

You will have perceived, my friends, in what I 
have already said, the great superiority of the dic- 
tates of revelation over those of unassisted reason, 
on occasions whirh at once awaken all our sensibi- 
lity and demand all our fortitude. Reason indeed is 
here htile if at all better than absolute stoicism. It 
may tell us that death is an evil not to be avoided^ 
and that it is folly to lament the loss of what cannot 
be recovered. But alas ! this is no balm to a wound- 
ed spirit; and the tears which will continue to flow 
in contempt of this boasted reasoning, sufficiently 
prove its futility — prove that fainting nature is look- 
ing round for some more substantial support. Reli- 
gion on the contrary — and when I speak of religion^ 
it will be easily understood that 1 mean Christianitij^ 
far from doing violence to the emotions of the heart, 
does not require their suppression. She suffers the 
natural drops to fall, so as to ease it of its burden, 
gently interposing, first to moderate grief, and then 
to offer topics of conscdation peculiarly her own. It 
is much when she convinces us that it is at the com- 
mand of paternal wisdom and goodness, that we are 
called to resign to the arms of death those in whom 
mv warmest affection and our dearest hopes of jap- 



Loss of Children. 



±75 



piness were centered — but how much more when she 
proves to us that the separation shall not be final— 
that we shall rejoin them in circumstances vastly 
more advantageous — that our union shall be eternal ! 
What an adamantine heart must that be which can 
proudly boast of its independence on considerations, 
hopes, and prospects such as these, and even reject 
them as the dreams of monastic superstition or wild 
fanaticism! Methinks if I were an unbeliever in 
Christianity till the messenger of death had entered 
my dwelling, I could no longer be indifferen^t to its 
clairiis on my attention. I should feel an anxious so- 
licitude that what was evidently so much to my ad- 
vantage, and suited my case so exactly, might at 
length i)rove to be true. I should at least think the 
arguments in its behalf worthy of serious considera- 
tion; and if the result should be nothing more than 
that it could not be demonstrated to be a falseliood, I 
think I should scarcely commit the folly of adhering 
to the barren, cheerless, hopeless principles of infi- 
delity. As I would not renounce the use of my senses 
and understanding by adopting the ^bsurd and ex- 
travagant notions of atheism, and abandoning the 
belief of the existence of a First Cause — an intelli- 
gent and omnipotent Creator, I should think it un- 
reasonable to deny the possibility of the principal fact 
stated in the gOvSpel, the resurrection of Christ — I 
should only have to examine the evidence adduced of 
its reality^ and if I found no sufiicient cause to im- 
peach that evidence, every inferior objection would 
at once give way, and, instead of darkness and de- 
spair, the delightful idea would dawn upon my soul 
that the tender bonds, recently broken, should liere- 
after be renewed. Contemplating the short space 



176 Comfoft under the 



which must elapse between the departure of a dearly 
beloved objert and my own, as the only interval 
which woiil i separate us from each other, and c{)n- 
sidering that after rlf>sing the eyes in death, it will 
be but as an imperceptible moment to open them in 
immurlHlitj , I would exchange pei'turbation for tran- 
quillity, tears for smiles, complaints for congratula- 
tions. It doth not indeed yet appear what we shall 
be; nor is it necessary that we should be acquainted 
with every particular of our improved state. But as 
we cannot but be painfully sensible of the imperfec- 
tii>ns and disadvantages, whether mental or corpo- 
real, of our present condition, it ought to satisfy us 
that it dot s sufficiently appear what we shall not be« 
to know that we shall have done with and be exempt 
from them all. <^ God shall wipe away all tears from 
our eyes ; and th^re shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
pain, for the former things are passed away.'^ Alas! 
are they not even now passing away ? What is there 
here that wears the character of permanence ? Pos- 
sessions unstably — love and friendship a»utable~the 
closest natural bonds dissoluble — health precarious- 
life itself a flower, a vapour, a dream — typified by 
every thing tliat can express fragility, uncertainty, 
and brevity ! From all these the life to come shall be 
perfectly and for ever free. 

Among other particulars relating to the future 
state, of which little is said, and which therefore call 
for the exercise of our faith, is the condition of those 
who have left the world almost as soon as they en- 
tered upon it — in early infancy. But I think there 
is enough to remove any anxiety on the subject from 
the minds of thos^ who are most neitrly interested. 



Loss of Children. 



177 



That there is nothin.^ to forUd them to hope is very 
clear; and they may be encouragf^d to form the most 
pleasing anticipations from the condtsrending and 
endearing notice which he, who is the resurrection 
and the life, took of little children while on earth, 
declaring that of such is the kingdom of heaven. T»;e 
time was coming? he said, when all that are in t' e 
graves — (and no exception is made) when all timt 
are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God and sliall come forth. As in Adam all die, e\en 
so in Christ shall all be made alive. I saw the dead, 
says the prophetic writer of the Apocal\pse, small 
and great, stand before God. When we consider by 
what slow degrees the powers of the human mind are 
unfolded while yet their existence cannot be doubted 
—what an amazing difference between Newton just 
born, and Newton in the full vigour of his faculties, 
we might naturally ask, would that mighty genius 
have been extinguished and lost if he had died in in- 
fancy ? — We can scarcely persuade ourselves (upon 
Christian principles at least) to answer in the affir- 
mative. No surely — the capacity for attaining ex- 
cellence is not destroyed by death i and although the 
opportunity w^as not afforded in the present world, 
it may he in the future— it is but like the precious 
seed which <^ though buried long in dust, shall not 
deceive our hope," but shall spring up under happier 
auspices, and produce the fair fruits of eternal life 
and immortal vigour. What are the suggestions of 
natural feeling upon this point? Where is the parent 
that could contentedly forego the pleasing hope of 
recovering what it cost so much to part with? Ar- 
rived in the mansions of bliss, would you not eagerly 
look around for something that was necessary to 



Comfort under the 



complete your happiness, and which the presence of 
your beloved offspring only could suppl} ? Be com- 
forted then if tliey have left this troublesome, en- 
snaring worlds before they were contaminated by its 
corruptions, or led astray by its temptations ; and let 
not their innocence 'dn&your guilt endanger the bitter 
pangs of another separation. 

May 1 not now, my friends, revert to the words of 
my text, and ask — *«Are the consolations of God 
small with you If he wound, does he not heal ? If 
he smite, does he not bind up ? If his decrees be those 
of absolute sovereis^nty, to which no resistance can 
be opposed, is it not comfortable to reflect that the 
milder attributes of paternal authority soften what 
might wear the aspect of severity— that infinite wis- 
dom cannot err in the choice of what is most condu- 
cive to our best interests, and that infinite goodness 
cannot want the disposition to adopt it ? Under a 
sense of our own insufficiency for these important 
ends, does it not become us ^< in every thing to give 
thanks,'' and whatever he determines, to say—" It is 
well Ignorant and short-sighted as we are, yet 
sometimes his merciful purposes in afflicting us are 
so apparent, that we cannot avoid assenting to their 
propriety; and the benefits of properly improved 
chastisements are too obvious, and have been too 
often attested by the most exalted characters, to be 
the subject of doubt or dispute. Above all, we not 
only see that suffering and distress can last but for a 
short time, but are assured by the gospel of Jesus 
Christ our Lord, that it shall be succeeded by posi- 
tive, substantial, never-ending felicity and glory — 
when what is not now in our power to comprehend, 
shall all be made clear and intelligible. After thisi^ 



Loss of Children. 470 



shall we presume to complain of any of the dispensa- 
tions of our heavenly Fatlier anil benefactor? Surely 
his rebukes and corrections are salutary, and his 
consolations neither few nor small — his mere y en- 
dureth fi)r ever/' 

On the whole, when we take a deliberate and col- 
lective view of the circumstances of our condition in 
this transitory world, the fashion of which is conti- 
nually changing and passing away, we must acknow- 
ledge the propriety of the apostolic advice, to rejoice 
as though sve rejoiced not, and to weep as though we 
wept not. Wli«^n our families are healthful and pros- 
perous, and every thing wears a smiling aspect, let 
us chasten our joy. The events of a day, the indis- 
position of an honr, the accident of a moment, may 
change the scene, and turn tlie abode of gladness into 
the house of mourning. When this is our situation, 
let such considerations as 1 have now been suggest- 
ing, controul our passions, compose our spirits, ba- 
nish distrust and despondency, and forbid an un- 
grateful insensibility to remaining mercies. 

If to sustain the parental relation be naturally de- 
sirable, and if it call forth and bring into activity the 
finest and best affections of the human heart, still its 
cares and anxieties are su7^e to be many, and its 
griefs and disappointments may be heavy and bitter. 
Let this reconcile to the disposals of the divine Provi- 
dence fhose from whom the blessing of children has 
been withheld. Where a trust so important has been 
committed, the responsibility is great and awful; and 
He who knows all things, besi knows whether in 
their case it woulo have been faithfitlly discharged or 
not. Alas! how many parents tuny there nut be who 
have reason to wish they had never borne the title 1 



180 Comfort under the 



Opportunities may not be wanting to those who are 
not parents, hr peiformiog iivduy of the duties of the 
relation, and even some of the most important ; they 
may be fathers to the fatherless, and mothers to tlie 
motherlessj and wiiile they arq-iiesce in what ap- 
pears to be the will of God? fill up a most honoura- 
ble and useful statiiMi in society. 

To you, my young friends, 1 must now be permit- 
ted to address a word of exhortation. I take it for 
granted that you are of an age to be grateful for the 
tenderness of your parents, and to know that it is 
your duty to love, honour, and obey them. But you 
cannot, as yet, be acquainted with the full extent of 
what they experience on your account, nor the alter- 
nations of hope and fear, pleasure and pain, with 
which their minds are affected with regard to your 
health, your disposition, and your future situation 
in, and pix)gress through, life. These you will bet- 
ter understand, if it should please Providence that 
you yourselves should stand in the like relation. It 
is their hope, if it so please the Almighty, that they 
may be spared the keen distress of following you to 
an early grave — but be assured that the only allevia- 
tion with which such a heavy stroke could be at- 
tended, must be, that your amiable and virtuous dis- 
positions will afford them the consolatory prospect of 
meeting you again in a better world. I will farther 
suppose you arrived at that period when tlie under- 
standing is unfolding itself, when mature reflec- 
tion is beginning to take place of childish levity, and 
things v,hich essentially differ, to be seen by you in 
a proper light of discrimination. It ought not to be 
—it is 7iot expected, that the face of yo(jth should 
wear the gravity of age»— 'that you should not partake 



Loss of Children. 



181 



of the innocent pleasures suitable to your season of 
life, or prematurely encounter those cares and trou- 
bles which will soon enough cross you in your jour- 
ney through the world. But there are seasons when 
serious thought and reflection will appear very proper 
and becoming even in you. Occurrences frequently 
take place, which one would think could scarcely fail 
to excite it even in the most volatile. The arrows of 
death fly thick around you — a proof is now fresh in 
your recollection that youth is no security against 
their stroke, and who among you of a contemporary 
standing may be the next victim God only knows, 
or wliether we who in the course of nature are ap- 
proaching the conclusion of life may not be your sur- 
vivors. The dread of death is natural to us all,* but 
there is a way to make it less terrible, and life, if life 
be spared, more desirable. In both respects, religion 
— the religion of Christ, offers you its friendly aid. 
Examine then, with diligence and earnestness, the 
grounds upon which rest the proofs of its truth — at- 
tend with respect to the arguments in its favour j and 
fear not that when viewed in its native purity and 
simplicity it will not abide the strictest scrutiny. 
Your labour will be abundantly rewarded — -you will 
have laid up a good foundation against the time of 
need — ^you will be enabled to resist with success the 
allurements, and to bear with fortitude the afflictions 
of the world through which you are expecting to 
pass I and when you leave it, whether sooner or 
later, you may look forward, with humble and cheer- 
ful hope, to the possession of immortal life and glory. 

Q 



SEEMON XL 



THE BLESSINGS OF REVELATION INTENDED FOR 
UNIVERSAL DIFFUSION. 



DELIVERED 1st MAY, 1814, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE BIBLE SOCIETT 
OJf PHILADELPHIA. 

IsAiAHi xxix. 18, 19. 

In that day shall the deaf hear the tuovds of the hooh, and the 
^yes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The 
meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor atnon^^ 
men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, 

If it be admitted as an indubitable proposition^ 
that knowledge and virtue are essential to the true 
dignity and happiness of man, we cannot but be 
deeply affected with the condition of by far the 
greater proportion of our species. We are told, and 
there is sufficient reason to believe, that man was ori- 
ginally created in the image of God — furnished with 
every requisite, both mental and corporeal, for be- 
coming and continuing wise, holy, and happy. But 
where, alas! are we now to look for the traits of an 
original so excellent? In some parts of the habitable 
globe we behold our nature wearing a form so abject 
as to be barely distinguishable from that of the more 



184 



The Blessmgs of Revelation 



sagacious kinds of brutes— in others, wild? ferocioiisj 
uncivilised, and delighting in deeds of horror, atro- 
city, and blood. Even among nations considerably 
removed froru absolute barbarism, we find the social 
bond much relaxed, and, in some of its most impor- 
tant points of obligation, altogether broken and dis- 
regarded I while that which wears the semblance of 
religion, is either disfigured by the most deplorable 
ignorance and superstition — an incongruous mass of 
ceremonial absurdities, or a vile prostration before 
stocks and stones, carved or hewn into monstrous 
shapes, and the objects of slavish dread in proportion 
to their deformity, and the inhumanity of the rites 
with which their worship is celebrated. That such 
a state of moral disorder should have been the ap- 
poiiitincnt of an all-powerful Creator, an all-wise 
Governor, and an all-benevolent Parent, we cannot 
allow ourselves to believe. To account for his per- 
mission of it, presents difficulties little less than insu- 
perable ; nor, if we could solve them ever so satis- 
factorily, would the discovery be of any real utility. 
The melancholy truth is, that it does exist; and if we 
could persuade ourselves that the decree is gone forth, 
either that thus it shall always continue, or that every 
successive generation of mankind shall sink deeper 
and deeper into depravity and wretchedness, I know 
not any thing that could fill the generous mind with 
more poignant alfliiction, or more effectually paralise 
every benevolent effort for their recovery. 

But, blessed be God, there is no room to entertain 
such gloomy, such desponding apprehensions — there 
is, on the contrary, ample reason for believing that 
the divine counsels contemplate the gradual amelio- 
ration of the moral condition and character of man> 



intended for universal Diffusion. 185 



which shall be carried forward till the image of God 
be renewed in his rational offspring, and shine forth 
in all its pristine beauty and glory. This position I 
shall endeavour to establish by considerations drawn 
from the constitution of the human nature itself, and 
snore especially from the import and tendency of 
those extraordinary revelations with which it hath 
pleased the Supreme Being to favour our fallen race. 
If then mankind be recoverable from a state of igno- 
rance, error, and vice, it must be by means of in- 
struction. But in order to profit by instruction there 
must exist a previous and an inherent capability of 
receiving it. To scatter seed of the most excellent 
quality would be an useless labour, if the ground did 
not contain the principle of fertility; neither can it 
be disputed, that the human mind, generally speak- 
ing, is as susceptible of improvement by instruction 
as the earth by cultivation — an idea so familiar, that 
the latter term is, in both cases, of common applica- 
tion. The wilderness, under the plastic hand of in- 
dustry, may be made to blossom as the rose; and the 
untutored savage, when brought within the reach of 
opportunities for information, has become so unlike 
his former self, as to be almost a different being* 
Here tlien, we recognise the ground upon which the 
great fabric of universal knowledge, virtue, and hap- 
piness is, if at all, to be erected — the impr ov ability 
however inferior at present to what it may have origi- 
nally been, of the human character ; for which there 
could be no room to hope, if it were totally destitute 
of every good principle, and were entirely and inces- 
santly bent to all evil. 

It hath also pleased the wise Author of our . 
to qualify and incline us to become instruc 

Q 2 

/ 




18S The Blessings of Revelation 



each other. He has qualified us for it by giving us 
different turns of genius, and placing before us differ- 
ent objects of ardent pursuit; he has inclined us to it 
by inspiring us with the desire of imparting to others 
what our own industry or application have enabled 
US to attain ; so that it is difficult to determine whe- 
ther the acquisition or the communication of new 
ideas affords the greater pleasure. The student who 
consumes the midnight oil — the philosopher who as- 
siduously investigates the laws of nature—the navi- 
gator who braves the perils of the deep in search of 
hitherto undiscovered lands, and the traveller who 
explores regions untrodden by the foot of civilised 
man— all these, while they experience a high degree 
of self-gratification, feel something that irresistibly 
prompts them to communicate the result of their la- 
bours and researches ; and while they add to the 
general stock of knowledge, are preparing the way 
for its further, its indefinite extension. 

We may also plainly perceive the kind intentions 
®f our common Parent, in the provision he has made 
for giving to this natural propensity its full and de- 
signed effect. One great purpose for which he has 
endued us with the faculty of speech, is, that the be- 
nefits of science, observation and experience might 
Bot be confined to their original possessor. For a 
long succession of ages, this was the only way in 
which they could be conveyed, and oral tradition 
alone was the limited and uncertain channel through 
which the wisdom of one generation descended to 
another; the consequence of which was much loss 
and much deterioration. By the art of writing some 
of these inconveniences were remedied; yet still, in- 
formation was confined within very narrow bounds^ 



intended for universal Diff usion. 187 



by reason of the time necessarily spent in making 
copies, and the small number at most that could be 
obtained, while a way was left open by which error 
might intrude through the carelessness, ignorance, 
or conceit of transcribers. But by the comparative- 
ly modern invention of printing, copies are multiplied 
witli an ease, expedition and accuracy, of which, an- 
tecedently, no conception could have been formed. 
And when, in connexion with this, we take into view 
the effects of the discovery of the magnetic power as 
applied to navigation, we might almost adopt in its 
literal sense the figurative expression of the evange- 
list — ^< that even the world itself shall not be able to 
contain the books that shall be written,'^ — rit is at 
least morally impossible that such as are held in ge- 
neral and deserved esteem can ever be lost. 

If the foregoing remarks be applicable to the com- 
munication and diffusion of knowledge in general, it 
would be useless to attempt to establish any distinc- 
tion in these particulars with respect to religious 
knowledge. If there be not, in the nature of man, 
something congenial with that of religion — if it be 
not a soil in which the precious seed can take root 
and flourish, the labour of religious instruction might 
as well be bestowed upon the beasts of the field, or 
the fowls of the air, I must be permitted to dwell a 
little upon this point. Man is not more, perhaps not 
so much, distinguished from the lower orders of ani- 
mals in any thing, as by his natural capacity for re- 
ligion. It is the inspiration of the Almighty that 
hath thus made him wiser than them, and given him 
this characteristic mark of understanding. That God 
originally made such discoveries of himself to his ra- 
tional offspring as were sufficient for their direction 



188 



The Blessings of Revelation 



and well being if they had continued obedient, there 
can be no doubt — they did not continue obedient, and 
the light that was in them became comparative dark- 
ness ; yet was so far from being utterly extinguish- 
ed, tliat some glimmerings, although faint, gave at 
once evidence of its former brightness, and the possi- 
bility of its reillumination. Even the lowest species 
of idolatry indicates something of the kind, and like 
the ruins of a magnificent structure, aflFords the traces 
of former proportion and splendour. Such is what 
is generally understood by the phrase — ^< the light of 
nature'' — and as it cometh down from the Father of 
lights, is not to be treated with contempt or account- 
ed of no value whatever. We cannot imagine that 
Paul held the nature of man in a very low degree of 
estimation, when he declares him still to be the 
image and glory of God and when moreover, as is 
apparent from his discourses and writings, he thought 
that those who had not the benefit of the revealed 
law might yet do by nature the things contained in it; 
might show its provisions written on their hearts, and 
might incur guilt and condemnation by disregarding 
the dictates of conscience. And anotlier apostle em- 
phatically intimates that, in every nation, there may 
be such as fear God and work righteousness, and 
consequently are in a state of acceptance with him. 
Kor have I the smallest doubt, that amidst the pre- 
vailing ignorance and degeneracy of the most barba- 
rous people, individuals might be found, in whom the 
natural perception of the difference between moral 
good and evil is plainly discernible. But it is a truth 
which will admit of no dispute, and which nothing I 
have said is intended in the least to invalidate, that 
this light was too indistinct, and this law too feebly 



intended for universal Brj^usion. 189 



operative, to effect the restoration of the human race 
to their primitive state of rectitude and happiness. 
It therefore became the wisdom and goodness of the 
Almighty to interpose in the way we are assured he 
did — that is, by the patriarchal, the Mosaic, the pro- 
phetic, and lastly by the Christian dispensation, for 
the revival of that eternal law, from which, it is 
easier that heaven and earth should fail, than that 
one jot or one tittle should pass ; to extend its pro- 
visions, and to enforce it by new and most powerful 
sanctions — 'this is what we understand by revelation, 
or the revealed will of God, the records of which are 
contained in the books of the Old and New Testa- 
ments. 

From these records, the plan, formed in the divine 
counsels for the ultimate comprehension of the whole 
human race within the sphere of the blessings of this 
revelation, is fully apparent, and therefore demands 
our humble and cordial acquiescence. As its deve- 
lopement was to be gradual, so its early aspect wore 
the marks of immaturity. Its confinement, at first, 
to a single family, and afterwards to the descendants 
of that family, together w ith the injunction of many 
things not necessarily connected with moral purity, 
and the permission of others not altogether consistent 
with it, abundantly proved that the law, in this stage 
and under this modification, made nothing perfect" 
it nevertheless contained the promise of a better hope 
— In thee,'^ it was divinely declared to the father 
of the faithful, ^« in thee, and in thy seed shall all the 
families of the earth be blessed.'^ I need not parti- 
cularise the several passages of Old Testament scrip- 
ture wherein either direct predictions or plain inti- 
mations are given of the approach of an highly im- 



1 90 Hhe Blessings of Revelation 



proved order of things, to be declared and established 
by a divine messenger, far superior in extraordinary 
endowments to any that had proceeded him. To some 
<)f these your attention has already been directed. 
Indeed it is not improbable that they were more nu- 
merous and impressive than what now appear upon 
record. Abraham earnestly desired to see the days 
of the Messiah, and was favoured with such a disco- 
very as filled him with joy. Many prophets and 
righteous men desired to see the things which should 
tlien take place — they inquired and searched dili- 
gently concerning this grace^ and this salvation, of 
which they testified beforehand; and when the fulness 
of time was come, the universality of the ofTer of gos- 
pel blessings and privileges was one of its most dis- 
tinguishing features. It was indeed cause of offence 
and bitter enmity, in many of those who had con- 
ceived of themselves as the only people in whose fa- 
vour any peculiar interposition of heaven ought to 
have been made, nor was at first well understood, 
even by the men who had it in command <^ to go into 
all the worUf and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture but it was received with transports of joy by 
the Gentiles, who had till then been considered as 
sinners, aliens, outcasts, and cut off from every hope 
of the divine regard. 

I conceived it to be right, my Christian friends, to 
enter with some particularity into these preliminary 
matters, that it may be seen upon what just and solid 
foundations are formed the plans of that highly re- 
spectable and eminently useful association, as whose 
advocate I have the honour on this occasion to ap- 
pear. So far from being visionaries or enthusiasts, 
nothing can be clearer tiian that they are acting in full 



intended for universal Diffusion. 191 

consonance with the views of the divine Pravidence, 
whose tender mercies are over all its works, and that 
they are employed, together with it, in extending to 
the whole family of mankind the permanent blessings 
of peace and order^ of virtue and happiness. For 
this purpose, recourse must be had to human means 
and endeavours. It was necessary, in the beginning, 
that the attention of men should be drawn to the 
voice of heaven by effects beyond mere human power^ 
and out of the established order of natural laws. But 
it was equally proper that these should continue only 
for a season, sufl5.cient evidence being left on record 
of their reality, and the purpose for which they were 
performed. Abundant provision of another kind is 
now made for the same end, which, although it has 
appeared to arise out of the common course of hu- 
man events, would, a few years ago, and in pros- 
pect, have appeared little less than miraculous — I 
allude to what has been already mentioned respect- 
ing the arts of printing and navigation, vvliich war- 
rant us in looking forward to a progress in improve- 
ment, bounded only by the limits and duration of the 
globe itself. Few perhaps, if any, of my audience, 
will be disposed to charge me with enthusiasm, if I 
consider as a prophecy of the spread of divine know- 
ledge, to be effectuated by these instruments, tliat 
passage in Rev. xiv. 6, 7. I saw another angel fly 
in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel 
to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to 
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people | 
saying with a loud voice. Fear God, and give glory 
to him, for the hour of his judgment is come; and 
worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the 
seat a«d the fountains of waters/^ It may at least be 



19S The Blessings of Revelation 



considered as a most striking and beautiful allegory, 
descriptive of the rapidity and generality with which 
the blessings of scripture truth are now about to be 
diffused. Of the cordial co-operation of this church 
with the views of the Bible Society, I cannot permit 
myself for a moment to doubt. With the principles 
they profess, this undertaking has a perfect conge- 
niality as a measure of religious liberty— of benevo- 
lence—and of Christian unity. 

1. — We recognise in it the genuine characters of 
religious liberty. 

Alas! my brethren, what dismal times were those 
when the word of God w as immured in the cells of a 
cloister, and bound in the fetters of languages known 
only to a few, who found their account in keeping it 
out of the reach of common hands and common un- 
derstandings! The effects were visible in the degene- 
racy, not only of the laity, but of those who should 
have been their guides and examples — consequences, 
far worse than any to have been apprehended from 
a general acquaintance with the sacred books. That 
which was held up as most to be dreaded, did indeed 
take place — a diversity of interpretation, naturally 
flowing from that exercise of the right of private 
judgment, which was the main point whereupon the 
Reformation turned. This w as strenuously asserted 
by Luther, in his vindication of himself to the pontiff 
Leo. <«I shalV says he, admit of no restraints 
in interpreting tlie word of God; for the word of 
God, which inculcates the liberty of all, must itself 
be free.'' Yet this distinguished champion of reli- 
gious freedom fell into the error of refusing to others 
what he had so forcibly and justly insisted on with 
respect to himself. Happy had it been for man- 



intended for universal Diffusion. 193 

kind/' says Mr. Roscoe, from whom I make this 
quotation, <^ had this great reformer discovered, that 
between .perfect freedom and perfect obedience there 
can be no medium; that he who rejects one kind of 
human authority in matters of religion, is not likely 
to submit to another; and that there cannot be a more 
dangerous, nor a more odious encroachment on the 
rights of an individual, than officiously and unsolicit- 
ed to interfere with the sacred intercourse that sub- 
sists between him and his God/' Tliat some things 
w^hich wear the appearance of evil have resulted from 
various and discordant interpretations of the scrip- 
tures cannot be denied — but in this instance, as in 
every other, under the conduct of a wise and gracious 
Providence, it will appear that the good has far over- 
balanced the evil. In tlie close and accurate scruti- 
ny to which the scriptures have been subjected by 
men of the most distinguished learning and abilities, 
if there had been any defect in the evidences of their 
authenticity it could not have escaped discovery — but 
through every stage of the ordeal, these have re- 
mained unshaken, while the attacks of infidelity have 
been repelled with decisive effect. In publishing them 
without note or comment, and with a view to general 
and gratuitous dispersion, the Bible Society have 
done well. Christians of every persuasion may, and 
probably will expound them differently, and, if they 
are so disposed, indulge a sanguine belief that the 
free and unbiassed perusal of them will lead to a 
conviction, that their particular principles will be 
found most conformable to the sacred oracles. But 
although this is not at present in any instance likely 
to happen, the cause of truth will eventually be a 
gainer, and another great purpose for which diver- 

R 



194) The Blessings of Revelation 



sity of opinion is permitted may be fully answered — 
I mean, the exercise of Christian charity ^ which could 
have had little place if an entire uniformity had ex- 
isted. Let then the laudable intentions of the Society 
in this respect, inspire sentiments of mutual candour 
in those who differ from each other; especially where 
there is reason to believe that the difference is occa- 
sioned by a sincere and honest desire to attain the 
true sense of the inestimable originals, and to do them 
honour by proving and exemplifying their consist- 
ence with themselves. 

£.—*That the plans and proceedings of the Bible 
societies are dictated by motives of the most disinte- 
rested benevolence and philanthropy, cannot be de- 
nied even by those who reject the evidences of reve- 
lation. They cannot deny that if the lessons of piety, 
righteousness, purity, and universal good will incul- 
cated in the New Testament in particular, were per- 
fectly observed, the welfare and prosperity of the 
world would be the happy consequence. But to this 
the believer adds, that this observance will be most 
effectually — -nay can 07ily be secured, when men shall 
be convinced, upon gospel testimony, of the reality 
of a future life and a state of retribution. And in the 
New Covenant these great objects are so conspicuous 
that none can overlook them — .here, he who runs may 
read, and the wayfaring man, though a f(K)l, need not 
err. No version or translation was ever made, in 
which these leading points were either kept out of 
view or explained away. The question in the pre- 
sent case therefore is, not w hether certain comments 
and explanations be necessary for the complete un- 
derstanding of the scriptures in all their parts— such 
as liie idioms of the original languages, the customs, 



intended for universal Diffusion. 195 

manners^ and opinions of the times when the facts 
related took place, and such like, nor even whether 
the version in common use be perfectly correct — al- 
though all these, in their proper place, be well wor- 
thy of regard, and claim the most diligent attention ; 
but whether that plan should not be adopted which 
promises the easiest and most expeditious removal of 
total ignorance and reformation of morals. In such 
an urgency, the truly benevolent mind will not in- 
dulge unreasonable scruples, or balance between the 
merit of particular modes, any more than he who 
would save the life of a fellow creature, would suffer 
him to perish while he was deliberating about the 
best way of affording him assistance. To the excel- 
lence of the end proposed, and the obviousness of the 
means for effecting it, let then considerations of a se- 
condary nature, however important in themselves, 
give way. I add, 

3. — Perhaps under no other form could the great 
advantage have been gained of bringing persons of 
various religious denominations to embark in one 
common undertaking; and thus drawing them nearer 
to each other in the exercise of mutual love. Here 
we perceive the sterling value of the ancient, catho- 
lic, and scriptural title of Christian; a title in 
which all others should be merged and forgotten. 
Alas! how slight and slender the lines by which we 
are kept asunder, how firm and substantial the bonds 
which ought to hold us together! To what end do we 
all read and study the holy scriptures ? Is it not that 
we may become wise unto salvation? Do we not all 
call Christ Master and Lord ? And do we not know 
that the only true test of discipleship is — not this, 
that, or the other opinion respecting his person, but 



196 The Blessings of Revelation 



the doing whatsoever he hath commanded us? Is it 
not tlie same heaven to which we all aspire, and to 
which we wish to lead (if it were in our power) every 
human being, w hatever be his party, country or com- 
plexion? Seeing we must differ, and are all alike fal- 
lible, why should we not have compassion one of ano- 
ther, and still love as brethren, dwelling with greater 
emphasis and pleasure on those matters wherein we 
all agree than on those which are the causes of dis- 
sent ? Let us hope that the circumstance to which our 
attention is called by the present occasion is the hap- 
py prelude to a concordance so devoutly to be wished. 

Taking the w hole business into view, in its origin, 
process, and probable consequences, it is obvious to 
remark, what a blessed contrast the method thus 
adopted of propagating Christian truth, forms with 
that of the days of bigotry and persecution, when 
men were driven within the pale of the church by the 
terrors of the rack, the fire, and the sword! How ap- 
propriately it exemplifies that beautiful metaphor^ 
and forebodes the accomplishment of that divine pre- 
diction found in the prophecy of Isaiah, chap. Iv. 10, 
11. <<For as the rain cometh down, and the snow 
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth 
the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it 
may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater j 
so shall my word be thatgoeth forth out of my mouth; 
it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accom- 
plish that which I please, and it shall prosper in that 
whereto I sent it.'' Like the hidden leaven, and the 
grain of mustard seed in the parables of our blessed 
Lord, the gentle and gradual, but irresistible impulse 
shall produce its foil effect. The seed, however di- 
minutive at first, contains a vegetative power which 



intended for universal Diffusion. 197 

shall spread it forth into a luxuriant foliage, under 
which fowls of every wing shall find shelter and se- 
curity. 

And truly, my Christian friends, when we consider 
the number and the magnitude of those obstacles to a 
general reformation — to the entire dispersion of that 
midnight gloom, on which the first rays of the day- 
star have not begun to dawn — to that cordial relish 
for divine truth which shall prove the effectual cor- 
rective of froward and corrupt dispositions, and par- 
ty animosities both religious and political — to the 
total abolition of injustice, ambition, and war, of op- 
pression and slavery — in a word, to the arrival of 
that blessed era, when the tabernacle of God shall 
be with men, when he will dwell with them, and they 
shall be his people, and God himself shall be with 
them and be their God'^ — I say, when we think iiow 
much is to be done, and how much undone before these 
things can take place, we have need to pray, <<Lord, 
increase our faith and to avail ourselves of every 
encouragement we can derive, either from sac red 
writ, or a comprehensive and connected review of 
the affairs of the world at large. From the former, 
we may learn that what in human estimation appears 
impossible, with God is easy of accompl shment. The 
Lord, who formed the spirit of man within him can 
teach him, how^ever ignorant, the way of understand- 
ing — he who made the bodily^ can open tiie intellectual 
eye and ear, however obstructed, for the exercise of 
their proper functions — and what he hath said, shall 
he not do ? What the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, 
shall he not make good and bring it to pass ? Is any 
thing too hard for Omnipotence? Ought we then to 
be discouraged when called upon to co-operate witbt 

R 2 



198 The Blessings of Mev elation 



almighty power? Or with such objects in view as the 
temporal and eternal happiness of the whole human 
species, would the heart, glowing with the love of 
God and man, hesitate to attempt even apparent im- 
possibilities? Nor perhaps does any thing which can 
intervene between the present juncture, and the con- 
summation of which we are speaking, wear more of 
the appearance of impossibility, than once would have 
done that unbounded multiplication and distribution 
of the bread of life which now appears so perfectly 
practicable. At least then let us not be deterred 
from adopting this preliminary step towards perfec- 
tion, which., if that be at all attainable, must be al- 
lowed to be indispensibly necessary. 

With respect to the affairs of the world, they can- 
not, any more than the surface of its waters, long 
remain in a motionless state. Agitation is no less 
necessary to fulfil the salutary purposes of a super- 
intending Providence. And which of us that has 
seen fifty or sixty years pass over his head, cannot 
perceive, sinre, his early days, not only an amazing 
advance in physical science, in arts and agriculture, 
but amidst convulsions which have shaken the politi- 
cal system to its centre, the permanent triumphs of 
civil, religious, and personal liberty ? Away then 
with despondency ! and let the glory to be revealed 
be kept stedfastly in view, animate our hopes, quick- 
en our endeavours, and put ft^rvency into our prayers. 

In these benevolent efforts for the happiness of the 
world at large, our own country (in itself almost a 
world) must necessarily occupy a principal share. 
Its widely-scattered and increasing population can- 
not but he very scantily provided with the means of 
knowledge, and be nearly destitute of opportunities 



intended for universal Diffusion. 199 

for religious improvement ; inconveniences for which 
the general introduction of the bible presents the 
readiest and most eligible remedy. I would recom- 
mend to the perusal of such of my audience as may 
not have seen it, a very interesting report of the state 
of the western country in these respects, published 
last year by the Society, from which it will appear 
that there is very great scope indeed for the humane 
interference of our citizens. The pleasing prospects 
w^iich thus present themselves, of transmitting divine 
truth where it has been hitherto unknown or disre- 
garded, and the satisfaction and gratitude commonly 
expressed at the opportunity now so kindly offered 
of enjoying its benefits, seem to announce the near 
approach, if not the actual arrival, of the day spoken 
of in our text, <^ when the deaf shall hear the words 
of the book, and the eyes of tlie blind shall see out of 
obscurity and out of darkness^'^ when «the meek 
also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the 
poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of 
Israel.'' 

But we are warranted in looking beyond our own 
frontiers, with ardent longings for the breaking forth 
of light upon those dark places of the earth in which 
are the habitations and instruments of cruelty. Whose 
soul has not been harrowed up with the tales of hor- 
ror which have lately been told! with deeds of enor- 
mity which I trust in God have been acted for the 
last time ! How should we hail the period (O that it 
might speedily arrive!) when the arts of industry 
and peace might find their way among this wretched 
race! How soon v^ould they be followed by the know- 
ledge of letters, and an ability to converse with the 
things belonging to their present and future well- 



SOO The Blessings of Revelation 



being! With what transports of joy would the Bible 
Society receive the message, Corae over into the 
wilderness and help us Then indeed would the 
^« parched land become a pool, and the thirsty lands 
springs of water; in the habitation of dragons, where 
each lay,'' there should be, not only grass,'' but 
well-cultivated fields, teeming with abundant supplies 
of the necessaries, comforts and conveniences of hu- 
manised and civilised life ; and the highway" that 
should be there, should be called the way of holi- 
ness." Is there one who claims the title of Christian 
whose heart does not hurn within him at the thought? 

If I could prevail on myself to close a subject so 
animating with an unpleasant reflection, it would be 
this :~Are we justified in entertaining any sanguine 
expectations from the measure now adopted, when 
we see how lamentably the scriptures, and the in- 
junctions they contain, are disregarded by a great 
proportion of those who have them constantly at 
hand, and have been bred up from their earliest 
years in an acquaintance with them? But let us dis- 
miss the gloomy idea. Rather let us persuade our- 
selves that if a general interest can be excited in 
promoting the pious and liberal views of the Bible 
Society, none who are zealously earnest for the re- 
formation of others can be indifferent or inattentive 
to their own. " Thou that teachest another, teachest 
thou not thyself?" Thou that makest thy boast of the 
scriptures, dost thou dishonour them by the breach of 
their precepts and treating them with neglect ? God 
forbid, that through conduct like this on our part, 
his name should be blasphemed among the Gentiles ! 
Let us hope better things, even if we cannot rely on 
the best of motives. We are so much^ in these days^ 



intended for universal Diffusion. 201 

the votaries of fashion^ and fashion is so variable, 
that we need not despair of its becoming /asAionab/c 
to study the bible — its real friends would be glad to 
see such a taste prevailing; and the effect would be 
beneficial if it reached no farther than the giving a 
turn from that fascinating, but pernicious, kind of 
reading, which leads the imagination astray after 
things that never did nor ever will exist; unfits the 
minds of our female youth in particular for the se- 
rious and respectable discharge of the most impor- 
tant relative duties of life, as well as for sustaining 
its trials w ith fortitude ; and thus, through thenif to 
whom in their earliest days the care of both sexes is 
committed, has a most unfavourable influence on so- 
ciety at large. 

Finally, brethren, «1 commend you to God, and 
to the word of his grace, which is able to build you 
up and to give you an inheritance among all them 
who are sanctified" through faith that is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. Amen. 



SERMON XII. 



INSTRUCTIVE REFLECTIONS ON FLOWERS. 



^ LUKE^ XX. 27. 

Consider the Lilies how they groiu. 

How admirably, how kindly has the hand of the 
great Creator adapted the frame and constitution of 
the various orders of sensitive beings to the situations 
in which they are placed ! The earth, which is their 
common habitation, and the great storehouse from 
whence they draw their means of subsistence, in per- 
forming its annual revolution, subjects them to cir- 
cumstances of great variety and strong contrast, yet 
their instincts and their habits undergo changes so 
perfectly correspondent, that the means of procuring 
and the disposition for enjoying happiness accompa- 
ny them through every alteration of season and of 
temperature. The human faculties in particular, 
both mental and corporeal, are, by reason of this 
wise and suitable system, kept in agreeable and use- 
ful activity. Whatever be the pleasures or occupa- 
tions of one season, we do not wish tliem to continue 
without variation ; and whatever be its inconveni- 
ences, we look forward to that which is to succeed it 



204 Instructive Reflections on Flowers* 



for their remedy or removal. Thus the opening 
bloom of spring, with all the agreeable sensations it 
inspires, would be of little account if we did not hope 
to see it succeeded by the more substantial products 
of summer. Under the fervors of a summer's sun 
we solace ourselves with the pleasing anticipation of 
milder skies and a more moderate atmosphere in au- 
tumn, and as autumn advances, we are expecting to 
soften the rigours of winter by the social joys of the 
domestic and friendly circle. Satisfied with these^ 
we gladly mark the lengthening day, and feel the in- 
creasing warmth diffuse its influence through our 
frame—we cheerfully bid farewel to the dreary 
months, when dead the vegetable kingdom lay^ 
and dumb the tuneful,'' — we watch witli eagerness 
the swelling bud and the opening blossom — the eye 
is cheered and refreshed by the deepening verdure, 
and the ear gratified by daily additions to the music 
of the woods — untired^ we view again and again the 
lovely scene — the bosom expands with consentaneous 
feelings — the nerves of industry are braced — ani- 
mated by the hope of pleasure and of profit, man re- 
sumes with new vigour and alacrity the labours of 
the field and of the garden. 

But if tiie effects produced on man by the return 
of spring were to terminate here, he could boast no 
mighty pre-eminence over the inferior ranks of ani- 
mals. They too are sensible of the genial influence 
, fjiey evince, by a thousand unequivocal signs, the 
joy it inspires ; while all-powerful instinct prompts 
them to those actions by which life, order and enjoy- 
ment are to be perpetuated. Unconscious of the band 
that regulates their respective movements, they look 
not beyond their appointed sphere of action, and the 



Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 205 

connexion of effects with the causes and consequences 
of them, no farther occupies their attention than as 
it relates to the fulfilment of the immediate and sub- 
ordinate purposes of their creation. The beast who 
ranges the pastures, tramples unconsciously upon the 
most curious or fragrant flower, or crops it as a part 
of his food. Not so with man! — He is capable of 
tracing the streams of beauty and happiness, which 
flow every where around him, to their source. He 
can <*rise from nature up to nature's God.'^ As a 
rational being he is able to do this- — ^nor, when L can 
produce such an authority as my text contains, am I 
afraid to affirm, that as a Christian it is his duty to 
iearn the lessons of wisdom from the objects present- 
ed to his view in the works of the Almighty hand. 
To embrace such occasions of conveying useful in- 
struction, was not uncommon with him who "spake 
as never man spake;" and he here endeavours to fix 
the attention of his hearers on one of the most con- 
spicuous of the flowery tribes, which were then pro- 
bably growing in profusion around him. Coissi- 
BER," says he, <<the lilies how they grow'' — -do not 
behold them with a careless or vacant gaze, but, 
while their beauty and fragrance delight your senses, 
make them, by sober reflection, the medium of edifi- 
cation to your minds. — Let us attend to the admo- 
nition. 

« Consider the lilies how they grow.'* Taken in 
one sense, the phrase implies a mystery, which, with 
all our consideration, we shall never be able to un- 
ravel. By the aid of microscopes we can minutely 
distinguish their conformation— by that of chemistry 
w^ecan obtain the analysis of their component parts — 
but how the embryo leaves and petals are first form» 

S 



206 Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 

ed with a capacity of expanding into perfection — how 
the difFerentjuices, all extracted from the same source, 
are secreted in their respective vesicles, so as to im- 
part the variegated tint and the fragrant scent — how 
the fecundative power acts upon the seed so as to give 
it the property of producing a future plant exactly 
like the parent — in a word, in what precise mode the 
principle of vegetative life operates in all its regular 
but wonderfully diversified effects in any single in- 
stance, as far transcends human penetration and sa- 
gacity to comprehend, as it does human ingenuity 
to come up to so perfect a model of comely form and 
delicate texture. If, after contemplating any parti- 
cular individual, we proceed to a more extended and 
general view of the floral order, what an amazing 
scene opens upon us ! Independent of the rich varie- 
ty which ornament our gardens and grow wild in 
our fields and woods, how many additions to the ca- 
talogue are continually made! and how many are 
yet born to blush unseen" in the recesses of the de- 
sert! Together with an appropriate character of ge- 
neric resemblance, what infinite diversity of external 
appearance! What gracefulness of disposure ! What 
a rich and striking contrast of colouring! and how 
gratifying and well adapted the succession in which 
they present themselves, from the earliest breaking 
forth of spring to the latest period of autumn ! Can 
we open our eyes upon these things wit hout perceiv- 
ing whose breath perfumes them and whose pencil 
paints !"— Yes ! it is (and our Saviour tells us it is) 
God who thus clothes the grass of the field— who by 
causing the revolutions of the seasons, by visiting the 
earth and vi^atering it, covers it with verdure and 
enamels it with beauty. What hand but that of Om- 



Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 207 



iiipotence — wliat skill short of divine — what arrange- 
raent less than the result of infinite wisdom—what 
goooness but that which is without limits, could ac- 
complish thcvse things? Is there — 0 can there be a 
heart so insensible as to consider them, though ever 
so superficially, and yet be indifferent and unaffected! 

But let m not overlook the immediate purpose for 
which our Lord pointed to the lilies of the field.- — It 
was to illustrate the providential care of the Father 
of all over every part of his works~to give a proof 
of that constant attention with which he regards even 
the least and meanest of them, and from thence to au- 
thorise an encoura.ejing conclusion. It is indeed an 
argument which must come home to the feelings and 
understanding of every being capable of reflection* 
If there be a God, there must be a Providence. If the 
external and internal structure of a diminutive flower 
be the result of such admirable design and contriv- 
ance—if so much curious workmanship be employed 
in the growth and decoration of an inanimate vege- 
table that to-day flourishes in gay luxuriance and to- 
morrow may fall under the hand of the mower, is it 
supposable that beings of a nobler make should be less 
the objects of the divine regard ? From what follows 
in connexion with the words of the text, which are 
said to be addressed to the disciples^ it may indeed be 
inferred that they might look for the immediate in- 
terposition of heaven in their favour, while employed 
in the work of preaching the gospel; but as we have 
no such extraordinary commission, it would be folly 
and presumption in us to expect any such preter- 
natural assistance. However, when applied to the 
ordinary course of things, the position is perfectly 
relevant and proper, God has ordained that the ve- 



SOS Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 



getable creation should answer all the purposes of 
their being, apparently without any concurrence or 
volition of their own; and that his rational offspring 
are furnished with powers, capacities, and fore- 
thought for taking advantage of an established se- 
ries of causes and effects, is equally ascribable to his 
wisdom and goodness — the benevolence of his inten- 
tion therein is no less unquestionable. He is the 
enacter of that law whereby while the earth re- 
inaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, 
and summer and winter shall not cease" — upon these 
things we can as certainly depend as if it were re- 
vealed to us from heaven that we should be miracu- 
lously furnished with food and clothing, which we 
have originally as little share in procuring for our- 
selves; their regularity and certainty sufficiently 
prove that they are not the effect of chance, and that 
our being and our well-being depend not upon any 
such precarious principle. Generally speaking, if 
we fail not in doing our part, God will not be want- 
ing on his for whatever is necessary to our support 
and conducive to our delight, and if ever he re- 
trenches the superabundance of his supplies, if some- 
times he withholds the former and the latter rain, it 
is that we may be reminded of our absolute depen- 
dence on him, and be brought humbly to acknowledge 
that there is an oii^ration and an influence far beyond 
our power to controul; that he gives us corn and wine 
and oil, and that if we are ungrateful arid disobedient 
he can take them away in the season thereof and re- 
cover his wool and his flax (see Hosea, ii. 8, 9.). 

Farther — We may gather from the apparent de- 
sign of the Creator in arraying so splendidly the 
lilies of the field, and from the manner in whick 



Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 209 

Christ mentions it, that there is not only nothing un- 
- lawful, but something commendable, in a proper at- 
tention to ornament and elegance. Even all the glory 
of Solomon, of which much is recorded to his honour, 
and as an accomplishment of the divine promise, is 
said to be outdone by a single individual of that nu- 
merous family intended for the delight of mankind in 
every station and at every age. It seems indeed to 
be the dictate of innocence itself to borrow graces 
from this <^ breath of nature and her endless bloom,'^ 
and the characteristic of an advanced stage of civili- 
sation to make them a standard of correct taste. 
They furnish patterns for the amusing studies of the 
pencil and the lighter tasks of the needle. They are 
bidden to live through every season in articles of fe« 
male attire, in the furniture, on the walls, and on the 
floors of our apartments. Nor is there any thing ini 
this of which religion needs to be ashamed, or that 
strict propriety can condemn — it is only censurable 
when carried to such a length as to be incompatible 
with necessary economy, or so as to discover a light 
and frivolous turn of thought — a disproportionate at- 
tention to external decoration, while solid advantage 
and real utility are slighted. Justly would that man 
stand convicted of inexcusable folly who should con^ 
vert his whole estate into a flower garden, though 
ever so tastefully and artificially laid out, and stock- 
ed with exotics from every quarter of the globe, 
while he neglected those simple and wholesome pro- 
ductions which must be obtained by the plainer and 
ruder operations of the plough and the harrow, and 
the severer toils of the scythe and the sickle. And let 
me intreat you, my young friends, to consider this 
advice as particularly addressed to you^ If you con« 

S 2 



SIO Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 

sume precious time and valuable talent upon things 
which are chiefly admired by those whose warm but 
misjudging approbation is bestowed rather upon what 
is shewy and superficial than what is really praise- 
worthy, you will find them no more proof against the 
scorching heats and chilling blasts to which you will 
be exposed in your passage through life, than a frail 
and delicate flower, though reared and nursed with 
the utmost assiduity, and at the greatest expense of 
time and attention, is able to resist the extremes of 
the weather — nay, that very circumstance will only 
tend to show the more evidently its total want of real 
worth and durability — whereas true wisdom, inflexi- 
ble virtue, and genuine religion, will, at such trying 
seasons, be like the firm-rooted tree, covering you 
with a friendly shade, or against which you may lean 
with confidence and find support and safety. You 
can be at no loss to foresee the fate of him who should 
waste the whole of spring and summer in the fanci- 
ful disposition of the parterre, at the same time suf- 
fering the soil that ought to supply him with neces- 
saries for the winter to lie fallow or be overrun with 
weeds and briers. And if your whole attention, du- 
ring your early years be taken up with fashionable 
follies, what will ye do in the day of visitation ? To 
whom will ye flee for help, and where will ye leave 
your glory (See Isaiah, x. 3.) 

And here we are unavoidably led, from consider- 
ing the lilies how they ^row," to consider them as 
they decay, and to learn from thence some serious 
and useful lessons! We may now possibly be watch- 
ing attentively the ptitting forth of their buds, and 
looking forward with pleasing expectation to their 
appearance in full bloom of beauty and richness of 



Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 811 



o(lour~yet, but a littlt* longer and the lustre becomes 
dim — tlie flower falleth — the grace of the fashion 
thereof perisheth — the stem withers, is broken down 
and trodden to the earth. Such is the state of ?Ma?i~ 
From ver> earlj times a parallel has been drawn be- 
tw^een his existence and that of the tenderer produc- 
tions of the earth. Job says (ch. xiv. 2.) *^ He cometli 
fortl^ like a flower and is cut dow n"^ — David (Ps. ciii. 
15, 16.) <<As a flower of the field so he fiourisheth; 
for the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the 
place thereof shall know it no more" — And Isaiah 
(ch. xl. 6 — 8.) All flesh is grass, and tiie goodli- 
ness thereof as the flower of the field — the grass wi- 
thereth, the flower fadeth." And, if he fall not by- 
some unexpected and sudden stroke, and live out the 
. full period of the days of his years — though he come 
forth in the vernal promise of beauty and vigoi.r, and 
arrive at perfect maturity — yet these will change into 
the sickly tints of autumn, and the wastes of winter 
will inevitably follow. This is the universal la\v~ 
mortality is inscribed upon the most finished produc- 
tions of nature— beauty fades — strength declines- 
old age approaches — death closes the scene. And 
such as we ourselves, so are our dearest comforts — 
We behold them for a time, as we do the fresh-blow n 
lily, w ith delight ; but while we look they fade — we 
even sometimes shorten their duration by our anxie- 
ty to prolong it. 

Thus is the creature made subject to vanity. Have 
we then any right to quarrel w ith this order of things? 
To accuse the Creator of viewing his work with com- 
placency for a short time, and then casting it a^say 
in caprice or with disgust? Nay, but 0 man, who 
art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing 



S12 Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 

formed say to him that formed it — why hast thou 
made me thus?'^ (Rom. ix. 20.) Or shall he not do 
what he pleaseth with his own ? Have we no claim 
upon him for existence at all, and shall we not thank- 
fully accept, upon such conditions as he has thought 
fit to bestow it ? We ought to be far less concerned 
whether our lives be longer or shorter, than to an- 
swer the purpose for which they were given, and 
that we may not in this respect be of less value than 
the flower whose date begins with the morning sun, 
and ends when he sinks below the horizon. We can 
neither aher nor amend the plans of infinite wisdom, 
and therefore should be only solicitous to discharge 
the part assigned us in that grand and comprehensive 
system, of which it is impossible that our limited ca- 
pacity should understand all the bearings and con- 
nexions. If indeed the whole business of a rational 
being in this world were to pursue what is falsely 
called pleasure, or to exhibit a magnificent dress and 
equipage before the giddy gaping < rowd, even if life 
were protracted to an antediluvian extent, we might 
make complaints of its brevity, for we might arrive 
at the end of it still dissatisfied. Solomon in the 
height of his glory tried both these and found them 
vanity. But though so many of us commit mistakes 
in our search after happiness, it is not the less true 
that our benevolent Creator has placed a reasonable 
portion of it within our reach. Let us only take the 
direction that true wisdom points out, and " the sea- 
sons may 

As ceaseles round a jarring world they roll, 
Still find us happy .'^ 



Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 313 

Roll they must and will, nor is it in our power to ar- 
rest their revolution. Shall we then mope away the 
delightful months of spring, and think its pleasures 
and its blessings unworthy of our regard because it 
cannot always last, but must be succeeded by the 
gloom and dreariness of winter ? This were evident- 
ly to counteract the designs of that benign Provi- 
dence which hath so amply and so beautifully fur- 
nished the world around us with materials to accom- 
modate and inspire us with cheerfulness. It it true 
the great Sovereign and Proprietor of all things hath 
not thought fit to stamp any of our enjoyments with 
the character of permanency — but instead of this he 
has given us hoye; and if the sweetness and mildness 
of the vernal breeze must give place to the rough and 
chilling blasts of winter, neither shall these always 
blow, but we may still look forward to a returning 
or a yet unknown season of joy and gladness. Chris- 
tian/ Is not this privilege thine in its highest degree 
and its largest extent ? Oughtest not thou especially 
to enjoy present good things to the best advantage, 
because thou hast others infinitely better in prospect? 
Though thou mayest be travelling through the wil- 
derness thou art not without thy manna^ and the hea- 
venly Canaan lies beyond it ; nor canst thou possibly 
find thyself in circumstances so dark and <liscoura- 
ging as not to admit of the assured expectation of a 
brighter day. 

According to the present constitution of things, 
which it must be acknowledged is imperfect, change 
is necessary in order to prepare the way for some- 
thing vastly superior. Seasons, generations and hu- 
man affairs are in a course of constant sue cession. 
We ourselves are passing through one stage of life 



§14 Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 

after another, and after all the gaiety and glory of 
our spring and summer, and after a few cold and 
elieerless autumnal days, we may bow down our 
heads, low as the earth from whence we sprung. But 
while the plant is dying the seed is ripening; and if 
it fall into the ground it shall spring forth anew, not 
like the fairest of our flowers, a mere copy of that 
which produced it, but in a Form widely different and 
inconceivably improved. It doth not yet appear 
what we shall be'^—but this we know, that if we be 
planted in the likeness of the death of our blessed 
Lord, we shall be also in the likeness of his resur- 
rection. If we have borne the image of the earth* 
ly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.''' — 
What was <^sown in corruption shall be raised in in- 
corrupiion ; what was sow^n in dishonour shall be 
raised in glory," and flourish in immortal youth and 
beauty, beyond the reach of time and the influence of 
changing seasons. 

But it is written in the word of God — « Behold, I 
make all things new.*' — We may therefore confident- 
ly expect the renovation, not only of the vital but of 
the moral principle, and how ought we to rejoice at 
the approach of that period, when not only pain and 
sickness and death, but every thing that now de- 
grades the human nature below that standard of pu- 
rity and virtue for which it was originally designed, 
shall be for ever done away, and when the great plan 
of infinite wisdom and goodness which is now by in- 
scrutable methods leading on to, and maturing this 
great consummation, shall be completed and found to 
correspond in all its parts with the perfections of the 
Deity its author. Could we suppose a stranger to 
this our planet^ first to arrive in those parts of it 



Instructive Reflections on Flowers. 2l§ 



which are bound up in ice and covered vvith snow, 
would he be able by any previous reasoning to form 
an idea of the wondrous change which would in the 
course of a few months be brought about, and for 
which the bleak and barren scene around him was in 
fact the most pmper and effectual preparation. To 
whatever trials then our faith may be subjected, whe- 
ther as relating to ourselves or the affairs of the 
world in general, let it be supported by the assu- 
rance that there shall at length be a time of re- 
freshing from the presence of the Lord/' 

Suffer me to add, in conclusion, a few lines from 
that well-known poet who has sung so sweetly on 
these subjects, and to whom 1 have already had oc- 
casion more than once to refer. 

'Tis come~the glorious morn, the second birth 
Of heaven and earth ! Awakening nature hears 
The new-creating word, and starts to life 
In every heightened form — from pain and death 
For ever free. The great ETERNAii scheme 

<^ Involving all, and in a perfect whole 
Uniting, as the prospect wider spreads. 
To reason^s eye relin'd, clears up apace. 

<^ Ye good distressed. 

Ye noble few, who here unbending stand 

« Beneath lifers pressure, yet bear up a while. 
And what your bounded view (which only saw 
A little part) deemed evil, is no more. 

« The storms of wintry time will quickly pass, 
And one unbounded spring, encircle alL'' 



SERMON XIII. 



MUTUAL DUTIES OF CHRISTIAN MINISTERS AND 
PEOPLE. 



1 Thess. V. 1£, 13. 

Jind we beseech you brethren, to know them which labour among 
you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ; and to esteem 
them very highly in love, for their work^s sake. 

You will not wonder, my friends, if, during the 
length of time that I have borne my part in the pub- 
lic religious offices of our society, my mind has fre- 
quently dwelt on the nature of the relation subsisting 
between a Christian minister and the people of his 
charge. Considering the plan upon which these ser- 
vices are conducted, to have arisf^n from the neces- 
sity of the case, and as what o^jght to be laid aside, 
whenever circumstances will admit of it, for some- 
thing more fixed and regular, I have looked forward, 
not without a great degree of anxiety, to the conse- 
quences which such a proceeding might involve as to 
the prosperity, and possibly, even (he existence, of 
this church. Several reasons have concurred to de- 
termine me to address a few thoughts to you on this 
important subject. The time cannot be far distant 
when the opportunity of saying what I would have 

T 



218 Mutual Duties of 



said may be gone by ; and while no change is in im- 
mediate contemplation — while I can speak indepen- 
dently, and you can hear impartially. — when there is 
nothing to hinder the free and unbiassed exercise of 
the understanding on so interesting a topic, perhaps 
some ideas may be thrown out and treasured up, 
which may be useful when the time shall arrive for 
their practical application, I trust for their favour- 
able reception to your candour, and the sincerity of 
the intention by which they are prompted. 

It is an higli recommendation of religion, and an 
evident proof of its suitableness to the nature of man, 
that it is not only a personal but a social principle. 
In whatever age of the world, or under whatever 
form it has appeared, it has brought men together to 
pay their joint homage to the object of their worship. 
The obvious impossibility, however, of performing 
an uniform and concordant act of adoration or sup- 
plication by every individual of a mixed multitude, 
suggested the necessity of its being done by some one 
or few in behalf of the rest ; and these would of course 
be such, as from superiority of natural or acquired 
endowMnents, were also best qualified to discharge the 
correspondent office of instructors. That this con- 
venient, and indeed indispensable regulation, was ob- 
served under the Jewish economy, is apparent through 
its whole history. It was received, w ith respect to 
its principal features, by an easy transition into the 
Christian — but with this difference, that the office was 
no longer confined to a particular tribe or family — 
but all, to whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit were 
imparted, were in one degree or other, qualified for 
diffusing gospel knowledge. Peter, in his speech to 
the multitude on the day of Pentecost, quotes the 



Christian Ministers and People. 219 



prophecy of Joel to this purpospo ; and in liis first 
epistle, chap. 2. thus addresses Christian believers in 
general: *^ Ye are a spiritual house, an holy priest- 
hood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to 
God throus^h Jesus Christ." And again, " Ye are a 
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy na- 
tion, a peculiar people.'' But it is abundantly ma- 
mifest thac in the operations of the same spirit, there 
was great diversity. Besides the gift of tongues and 
their interpretation, the working of miracles, the 
healing of diseases, the discerning of spirits, there 
was the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge j 
there ere appointed, for ih€ perfecting of the saints, 
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
body of Christ, first apostles, secondarily prophets, 
thirdly teachers — moreover, evangelists, pastors and 
exhorters. This variety of component parts, con- 
spiring to produce one important and beneficial end, 
is compared by Paul to the different members of the 
human body, or the several materials of a building, 
which when fitted together, and applied to the pecu- 
liar purpose for which each is adapted, form one 
beautiful, harmonious and profitable whole. But 
however advantageous, however necessary, this plan 
might be in the infancy of the Christian church, no- 
thing is more certain than that it was not intended to 
be permanent. To the apostles alone was confined the 
power of imparting the gifts of the spirit; nor does 
it in the least appear that Timothy, Titus, Luke, 
Apollos, or any of the persons mentioned as stand- 
ing high in the affection and esteem of Paul and his 
fellows, and whom we may well suppose to have been 
largely endued with spiritual gifts, could place their- 
successors on the same footing, in this respect, with 



220 Mutual Duties of 



themselves. Indeed the irregular exercise and fre- 
quent misapplication of these supernatural faculties, 
requiring the authoritative interposition, and correct- 
ing hand of the apostles, would seem to have been 
alone a sufficient reason for their discontinuance. 
Such qualifications, however, as might be supplied 
by natural genius and superior ability, were still ne- 
cessary, and were with the utmost propriety employ- 
ed for the preservation of order and discipline in the 
different societies of which the general church was 
composed, and for instruction, exhortation, and the 
conduct of devotional offices. And there is sufficient 
reason to believe that perhaps for 100 years subse- 
quent to the apostolic times, matters went on for the 
most part, upon those happy principles of unity, love, 
peace, and equality, which form the striking and pe- 
culiar features of our divine and holy religion~Tlie 
gospel spread like the hidden leaven--^it shot forth 
like the grain of mustard seed— it even grew by op- 
position and persecution, and was mighty through 
God to the pulling down of strong holds, and every 
thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of 
God, and to the bringing into captivity every thought 
to the obedience of Christ. But in process of time, 
and as had been repeatedly foretold, grievous wolves 
in sheep^s clothing entered in, not sparing the flock. 
That precedence and advancement which had been 
justly awarded to shining virtue, and was conferred 
by the public voice in consequence of peculiar fitness 
for the discharge oi public duties, became the object 
of pride, ambition, and the thirst of filthy lucre. 
Then it was recollected what singular advantages 
were derived from the possession of miraculous gifts; 
and those who trod in the steps of Simon the magi- 



Christian Ministers and People. 221 



cian, were not slow in perceiving how gainful would 
be a popular persuasion that they were still attached 
to the offires they held. 

Look then, my brethren, into the history of the 
church previous to the Reformation, and you •will 
find almost every enormity committed by priests and 
prelates, and even the most flagrant tyrannies and 
usurpations of the papacy, perpetrated under the pre- 
tended influences of that spirit, which it was untruly 
asserted had been promised by Christ to be continued 
with his ministers always, and even to the end of the 
world. Carry your research yet lower down, and 
you will perceive tlie age of Protestantism still in- 
fected with the same kind of superstition ; nor can 
even our own more enlightened times boast an entire 
freedom fnun it. Still are titles, habits and forms of 
address affected, for which no precedent can be found 
in the earliest and bCvSt days of Christianity — still is 
it believed by some that none can lawfully undertake 
the pastoral office, unless inducted by authority li- 
neally derived from the apostles. Ordination is by 
many thought not only absolutely necessary, but in- 
complete, without the laying on of hands, the action 
used by the apostles when they communicated spiri- 
tual gifts ; and in some instances the accompanying 
words directly convey the idea of such a real com- 
munication. Still also do we hear too much of sup- 
posed divine operations, which may not only be easily 
traced to natural ca^ises, but the effects of which too 
plainly prove them to have their origin in human igna» 
ra i and weakness, and which the consistent friends 
of religion f-annot witness without much pain and re- 
gret. But it Cfinnot be necesssary to enlarge on such 
subjects in this place, 1 b heve we are not prepared 

T ^ 



Mutual Duties of 



to bow to human or clerical authority under any form 
\^ hatevpr, and least of all to that which would obtrude 
itself upon us under the pretext of divine right, or of 
that immediate influence from above, which, while we 
acknowledge its existence and expedience in the ori- 
gin of Christianity, reason, fact, and the tenor of 
scripture itself concur in convincing us is no longer 
to be found in the church. How is it possible then, 
that the cause of truth should be promoted by any 
thing that will, in the event, be found unable to stand 
the test of free inquiry, and to have the character of 
an imposition upon common sense? The human in- 
tellect, since the days of Luther, has been fast out- 
growing the swaddling bands of its infancy; and if 
it do not stop at the era of manly thought and ma- 
ture reflection, will be in great danger of running 
wild into the excesses of infidelity and a total disre- 
gard of all religion. Certain it is, that if we com- 
pare the opinions and practice of modern, with those 
of former days, we shall find ecclesiastical supremacy 
and influence much upon the decline. Civil liberty 
has made a rapid progress, and religious liberty is its 
close attendant; for when a man has been accustom- 
ed to exercise his free voice in choosing his temporal 
governors, hardly will he be persuaded to submit to 
dictation in the appointment of a spiritual director; 
and he might produce arguments in refutation of any 
such encroachment on his right, to which it would be 
impossible to give a satisfactory reply. But here 
alas, in one case as well as in the other, lies the mis- 
fortune — On the sacred altar of liberty, peace is too 
often the sacrifice ; the mild and gentle, the forbear- 
ing and conciliatory dictates of the gospel, are smo- 
thered and lost in the effervescence of the spirit of 



Christian Mi7iisters and People. S23 



party; and one is of Paul and another of Apollos, 
another of Cephas, and another of Christ, as if Christ 
himself were divided ! Oh, what heart-burnings and 
animosities, what schisms and alienations have hence 
arisen, to the scandal of the Christian cause, the grief 
of its friends, and the triumph, not only of its avow- 
ed enemies, but of those who advocate the necessity 
of a paramount spiritual jurisdiction, clothed with 
the attribute of infallibility, that the unity of the 
church may be preserved. Whenever such conten- 
tions unhappily break out, whether on occasion of 
the choice of a minister, or difference upon some 
point of doctrine, and each party pertinaciously ad- 
heres to its own opinion, the least of two evils is to 
be preferred, namely, that of separation j and while 
such an event cannot but be a subject of extreme re- 
gret to every true disciple of Jesus, his consolation 
must be in the hope, that like the persecutions by 
which the primitive professors were dispersed, it may 
be overruled by the divine Providence to the increase ♦ 
and final prosperity of the kingdom of Christ and of 
God. With respect to ourselves, my Christian bre- 
thren, I fondly cherish the idea, that whenever the 
time arrives for the exercise of our undoubted free- 
dom of choice, the nature and consequences of the 
business will be so thoroughly understood, that we 
shall follow none other things than those which make 
for peace, I also trust, that the principles upon which 
our society is founded, are in number so few, and in 
their meaning so perspicuous and intelligible, that 
they contain in themselves so little that can engen- 
der strife and disputation, that we shall always be 
found standing fast together in one mind; exhibiting 
to other churches, and to the w^orld at large, a shining 



Mutual Duties of 



example of all those virtues and graces which alone 
can render a Christian society truly flourishing and 
happy. 

I will now suppose, that under the prevailing; in- 
fluence of such dispositions as these, a pastor has 
been appointed. I shall not take it for granted that 
he has a full c onnmand of those splendid and popular 
talents, which, at their first display, draw crowded 
audiences. We cannot but have observed how tem- 
porary is their effect, and, without other more solid 
qualifications, how little is their real worth. I will 
rather suppose, which is by far the more probable 
case, that a necessity may have existed for mutual 
condescension, and a giving up of individual wishes, 
tastes, and inclinations, from a desire to promote the 
general good. I hope nevertheless, that the charac- 
ter and Cfmduct of the man we should choose, would 
be such as justly to claim from us a compliance with 
the reasonable and pathetic request in my text — the 
request of one who knew by experience the number 
and weight of the discouragements attendant on the 
undertaking, and how well they merited such a re- 
turn—** We beseech you brethren to know (to have 
a kind regard and fellow feeling for) (hose who la- 
bour among you, and are over you in the Lord and 
admonish you, and to esteem them very highl}^ in 
love for their work's sake.'^ The charge, if there 
be sucli a desire as there ought, to fulfil it well, is 
truly a work and a labour — a labour of the mind, 
which is often mc»re injurious to the health and spi- 
rits tlian the labour of the body. Whether the mi- 
nister's publir addresses be precomposed or extem- 
porary, a subject is to be sought, the plan digested, 
and the manner of expression so conceived as to af- 



Christian Ministers and People. 235 

ford some reasonable prospect that tlie word spoken 
will not be altogether as water spilt upon the 
ground." For the discharge of this duty he must be 
fully prepared, ere the sabbath arrive, whatever 
other engagements or affairs may in the interval call 
for or divide his attention. And, after all, when he 
comes to the house of God, full of the hope that he 
has something to say which will affect, interest, and 
Improve his hearers, he finds, perhaps, a large pro- 
portion of vacant seats. For, if we may judge by 
appearances, there is a wide difference in respect of 
the obligation to attend, between him who is to speak 
and those who are to be spoken to ; he must at all 
events be ready and punctual — he must be prepared 
at every point to perform his part; and a failure 
herein would subject him to a heavy censure. On the 
contrary, a considerable proportion of the members 
of many congregations seem to think their personal 
attendance a matter of little consequence, and to take 
it for granted that without them there is sure to be a 
suflScient number for the ordinary purpose of preach- 
ing and hearing a sermon. To put aside what is 
never considered as a positive engagement, it is suf- 
ficient, either that the aspect of the weather be more 
than commonly threatening or inviting — or that sleep 
may have been indulged too long — or that time may 
have been wanting to adjust the dress — or that there 
be merely felt an overpowering indolence and want 
of inclination. Of such persons I would be glad to 
know, whether, if public worship be a duty owing to 
God and to society, the obligation to perform it be 
not altogether as binding upon the people as the mi- 
nister? Whether any such excuses as I have men- 
tioned would be allowable in his case? Or, if allowa- 



Mutual Duties of 

ble in their's, whether they are not equally so with 
respect to every individual ? So that it is not owing 
to them that the minister does not sometimes find an 
empty house, and is obliged to retire for want of 
a single being to whom he may address himself! Let 
it not be imagined that I am so rigid or unreasona- 
ble as to allude to any whom either want of health, 
indispensable domestic duties, distance of situation, 
or other circumstances of equal necessity keep away 
from the service of the sanctuary, and with whom 
absence, from whatever unavoidable cause, is always 
matter of sin^ ere regret. But surely, they are very 
fat from acting upon the generous principle recom- 
mended by our apostle, who can, without thought or 
reflection, wound ihe feelings of their minister by 
such a want of respect, as in even the common inter- 
courses of polished society they would studiously 
avoid. Experience and frequency of repetition may 
indeed have worn off his sensibility to these things, 
and convinced him, that however mortifying, they 
must be borne. But he must look for his consolation 
among those (happy may he think himself if they are 
not a few) whom he can depend on meeting in the 
house of God, and for whom, if he see them not in 
their places, he feels an anxiety lest they may have 
been hindered by something nearly affecting their 
health or their comfort. On such too he can with 
some confidence rely for candid indulgence to those 
infirmities, which, at times, cast a cloud over the fa- 
culties and tlii'ow a languor into both composition 
and delivery, and which transient attendance will 
som< times remark and comment upon by way of pal- 
liating its own remissness. 



Christian Ministers and People. 227 



It may be thought by some, who entertain high no- 
tions as to the dignity of what they would call the 
sacred function, that the terms, to be over," « to 
admonish," to command," charge," « warn," 

rebuke," and such like, annexed to its execution, 
demand a regard somewhat more reverential than 
the esteem in love" recommended in the text. In 
the epistle to the Hebrews, even obedience and sub- 
mission are enjoined. A little reflection, aided by a 
farther reference to the apostolic writings, will suf- 
fice to set this matter on its right footing. That the 
apostles were ministers of God, and ministers of 
Christ, and that those who immediately succeeded 
them, were made by the Holy Spirit overseers of the 
flock, is not denied — but let us attend also to what 
they say of themselves. <^ Not for tliat we have do- 
minion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy." 
"We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the 
Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." 
« The elders which are among you I exhort who am 
also an elder— feed the flock of God — not as being 
lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the 
flock." And how frequently do they, after the ex- 
ample of their Lord, style those who in several re- 
spects w^re their inferiors, their brethren^ Now, 
leaving out of the question those mirac ulous powers 
which it was sometimes necessary to exert with some 
degree of severity for the correction of notorious offen- 
ders, and which none will at present be mad enough to 
pretend to, we can easily conceive that commanding, 
charging, rebuking, and such like, would be, in the 
first instance, the effects, rather of Christian love 
than of authoritative reprehension. And we find it 
was competent for the brethren themselvesji to warrl 



238 



Mutual Duties of 



such as were unruly, to restore in the spint of meek- 
ness any that were overtaken in a fault, and to per- 
form other official acts for the common benefit. But 
let it be granted tliat for the maintenance of order, 
and tlie preservation of the purity of a religious so- 
ciety, a recourse to some such proceeding, through 
its minister^ may be necessary- — the question u ill still 
return, ^* Where di>es the authority originate?'^ And 
I very much fear that minister would commit a great 
mistake who should confide, rather upon apostolical 
succession and inheritance, than upon the support 
and countenance of the respectable part of the people 
by whom he was placed in the station he occupies. In 
ecclesiastical, as well as civil, affairs, all notions of 
divine right and delegation are now justly exploded. 
Common sense itself teaches that titles however high- 
sounding, and all the paraphernalia of official dignity 
are, without the people to whom they have reference, 
mere nonentities — wiiereas the people are, of them- 
selves and at all times, an efficient body, and able by 
their own act to make provision both for their go- 
vernment and their instruction. In short, it seems 
to me, that the more attentively we consider our text, 
the more forcibly shall we be struck with the beauty 
and propriety of the sentiments it contains. Ministers 
are reminded that their office does not imply any ele- 
vation to title, rank, or power, or to afpjrd opportu- 
nity for self-indulgence and idleness, but that it is a 
labour and a work in the Lord which demands all 
their diligence, and that its faithful discharge will be 
their best reward both here and hereafter. Nor is 
there, one would hope, to be found a people so worth- 
less, so illiberal, so brutish, as to refuse to a consci- 
entious, zealous, and able pastor, the esteem, affec- 



Chnstian Ministers and People. 229 

tion, and deference to wliich he has a rightiul claim. 
On the contrary, it will be their delight to en( curage, 
and uphold him in an impartial and intrepid exercise 
of the trust committed to him, to regard his honour 
and credit as identified with their own, and to exact 
nothing from him inconsistent with his health and 
comfort, or that would interfere with his public du- 
ties. It is much to be wished that the contribution 
for his maintenance might be so I'beral as to keep 
his mind free from anxious carefulness, and place 
him upon a respectable footing in society. If unfor- 
tunately, the means of this should be wanting, it 
ought not to be considered as any degradation to his 
character if he should report to honest and creditable 
means for supplying the deficiency. There are ex- 
amples of this kind, of which w e are not accustomed 
to hear much from those who are ready enough on 
other occasions to cite apostolic precedents. 

My Christian brethren and friends ! If what I have 
said be thought of any importance, and the event 
to which it refers appear to be desirable, it will be 
well to consider of the best means of bringing it to 
pass. Were the prospects we have to offer ever so 
splendid in a pecuniary view, I should be sorry 
if this were a principal motive with any one who 
might accept our invitation. I trust we may be able 
to present inducements of a nature to weigh more 
powerfully with such an one as we would wish to be 
over us in the Lord. Our present situation, whatever 
may be its inconveniences, is not without its advan- 
tages for this purpose. We can obtain, as a society, 
a character for union and harmony, for st^dfastness 
and consistency. We have it in our power to show how 
highly we value the privilege of meeting, protected 

U 



aSO Mutual Duties^ ^c. 



by the law and constitution of our country, in a house 
of our own, and of there performing our social exer- 
cises in the way which we deem most acceptable to 
God and profitable to ourselves. Let us thus con- 
vince the world, and particularly those who do not 
wish us well, that it is really on principle, and not 
from caprice, or any unworthy motive, that we have 
separated from other churches, but that the objects 
we have in view arc of the most serious, solid, and 
important nature — such as we truly believe concern 
the glory of God, and the credit and influence of the 
gospel of Christ. Let us not entirely forsake the as- 
sembling ourselves together, as the manner of some 
is, nor yet give cause of suspicion, by a merely ca- 
sual or occasional attendance, that it is only when 
W'C have nothing else to do that we come to the house 
of God. Why, alas, should we be so lavish of our 
time when trifling books, frivolous amusements, and 
idle visits come in our way, and so niggardly to him 
whose mercy gives us every moment of it, that wo 
think it a mighty boon, nay too much, to give him 
an hour or two of one part of one day in seven! Let 
those of us especially who have families, be solicitous 
to set them an example, and train them up in a ha- 
bit, which cannot but have a most happy efiect on 
their conduct in future life, and the want of which 
may lead to we know not what fatal catastrophe. 
Thus will our pastor, if it please God to bestow upon 
us such a blessing, find his hands strengthened and 
his heart encouraged — thus planted in the house of 
the Lord, and flourishing in the courts of our God, 
we may hope to go from strength to strength, till w^e 
all appear before him in the heavenly Zion. Atnen* 

THE END, 



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